Metal and Melting
by Added-OC
Summary: The continuation of Emily Hagraven's journey. Sequel to Butterflies and Blood. (rated T for now, Rating may change to M for later chapters)
1. Chapter 1

( **Disclaimer:** _No matter how much I may want to, I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist. I do however own quite a few characters in this story:_

 _Emily Hagraven:_ _the main character of this story arch, a 17 year old State Alchemist to be who lost a foot to Gluttony's powers (_ see Butterflies and Blood chapter 25 part 2).

 _Jericho Rose:_ _a side character that was in love with Emily since they were very young, after a falling out with her he found new love in the form of Jessie Mae._

 _Jessie Mae:_ _A military legacy with long blonde hair and a hatred in her heart for Emily, Her now fiancé's ex-girlfriend._

 _Marrissa Mae:_ _a waitress at Jericho's favorite restaurant, also Jessie's first cousin._

 _The above characters are ones I have currently written in and are alive in this story arch. More will be added or taken away in later chapters._

 _This is a continuation of my first story in this series_ **Butterflies and Blood,** _though I cannot force you, I highly suggest reading that story first as I will make many references to it throughout this one._

 _Thank you and please enjoy,_

 _Added-OC)_

Chapter 1:

The moonlight cast a soft white veil over the darkened room. The warm bedsheets that were wrapped around her tightly should have lulled her to sleep easily; yet she lay there in the center of her bed with her eyes opened wide and staring at the dark oak wood that made up her bedroom ceiling. She had tried so hard to sleep, three hours alone in the room had not brought the sweet relief of sleep that she needed so badly. The sounds of metal clanking against the hardwood floor of her living room as Alphonse moved from one side to the other to gather bools that he planned on reading through the night seemed so distant and surreal to her.

"Emily?" she turned her head towards her tightly shut door that Edward's strained voice had drifted through. She closed her eyes as the door opened slowly, casting a sharp orange line of light across the foot of her bed. She listened as the soft sounds of his shuffling feet echoed through her near silent room. His steps stopped by the head of her bed and she heard the clanking of a glass being placed on her bedside table.

"Goodnight, Emily." She clenched the underside of her pillow in one hand as his voice, so close to her ear, drifted through the night air. His footsteps moved away from her once again and seconds later the sound of her door closing once again signaled to her that it was okay for her to open her eyes once again. She glanced at the glass of water beside her bed before rolling over onto her back once again. Two months had passed by in a blur since the battle that had destroyed every hope she had of returning to her childhood home. It had also been the same two months since she had spoken to Edward. She had been so sure that their feelings for one another were mutual when he had declared to none other than Scar himself that he would protect her with his entire being, and even shook the man's hand willingly.

Her cheeks flushed a deep red as she remembered attempting to kiss him in the very room that she now lay in. He had nearly knocked over her dresser as he backed away from her with a look of both shock and horror filling his golden eyes. He had run from her sight quickly then, and she had been so embarrassed by the entire event that she could not bring herself to utter even a simple "Hello" to him.

"How was she?" Alphonse asked as Edward stepped slowly into the living room. The blonde sighed as he leaned against the wall that bordered the hallway. Alphonse sat the book that he had been reading down as he turned to fully face his shorter blonder brother.

"She was um, she was asleep." Ed stated as he looked back down the hallway.

"Has she said a word to you?" Al asked as he watched his brother curiously, Ed sighed as he ran his fingers through his bangs and moved to sit in the center of Emily's couch.

"No." he stated as he hung his head, depressed. Alphonse had heard the entire story from his brother the very night it had happened. He knew that she had tried to kiss Ed seemingly out of the blue, and that Ed had not let that happen.

"Ed," Al rarely used his older brothers real name, choosing to instead call him either 'Big brother' or simply 'brother' when speaking to him so he knew that using it would get the blondes attention, "I don't understand why you didn't just let it happen in the first place; I mean you like her, right?"

"No." Ed sighed without looking up.

"No?" Al was visibly shocked by the one word answer he had received.

"No, Alphonse, I do not _like_ her, I  LOVE her, so much it hurts. I love her so much that I can't stand every moment that I am away from her." Ed let out a soft sob after speaking those words. His miss matched hands clenched his bangs so tightly that Al thought that he would rip the hairs right out of his scalp.

"Then why not give it a chance?" Al asked softly.

"I can't, I can't risk hurting her again Al. I would rather see her happy while my world crashed down around me then drag her down into this darkness alongside me." As Edward raised his head, Al saw the bright streaks glistening where his tears had cut lines down his cheeks. Alphonse fell into shocked silence as he saw the physical embodiment of his brothers pain painted across his face. So many words that Al wanted to say crossed his mind, but he knew that none of the words he could think to say would make his brothers pain go away.

"Life is so cruel Al." Ed sighed as he wiped his eyes on the sleeve of his red coat, "It dangles what you want most right in front of you, but it is always just out of reach." After speaking Edward stood and turned towards the hallway once again.

"Brother?" Ed shook his head and gave his brother a gentle yet sad smile.

"It's okay Al, I'm just tired. I think I will just go to bed." Ed waved absently at his brother as he made his way down the hall to the guest room where he had been staying since they moved into Emily's home.

"Poor brother," Al softly stated as he picked up the book he had been reading once again.

Emily sighed softly as she stepped up slowly to stand beside Jericho. It had been two weeks since he had gotten back in touch with her, and they had been meeting in the park just about every day since. At first she had only done it to get out of the house and away from Edwards sorrow filled eyes, but now she thought of those few hours a day as enjoyable and relaxing.

"Almost didn't see you there short stuff." He smiled as he patted her head and leaned forward slightly causing the light from the midday sun to playfully dance across his close cut bright red hair.

"Don't call me short you giant freak." She chuckled as she pushed his hand away playfully. It felt good to talk to someone, anyone, about anything at all. Jericho had been polite and friendly towards her ever since their first meet up, where she had fallen into a fit of tears and sobs against his chest. She had told him everything that day, how Edward had denied her after raising her hopes up so high. He had been patient as well, petting her back as she sobbed into his shirt.

"What do you feel like doing today?" Jericho asked, bringing her back into the present.

"It's getting too cold for Ice cream now." She stated as she pulled the thick wool jacket closer to herself. They had gotten into the habit of taking turns buying ice cream at a small parlor nearby. With the winter steadily approaching it seemed that their routine would have to change.

"Hotdogs," he offered, "or hamburgers." She tilted her head as she thought over his friendly suggestion.

"Well, I haven't had a hotdog in a while." She stated with a gentle smile.

"Hotdogs it is! Lucky me, something cheap on my day to pay!" he called merrily as he draped one arm across her shoulders.

"Oh? Am I too expensive for your military paycheck?" she asked as she shifted her feet to support the added weight.

"Not at all." He smiled as he turned her towards the marketplace where his favorite restaurant rested. They laughed and chatted idly as they walked down the crowded streets. Many commented on how cute they were as a couple and she hung her head slightly forward as their hushed words reached her ears. Her smile slipped into a small frown as she shifted her shoulders to knock his arm away.

"Geez, two people can't be having fun in public without people claiming that they are a couple." Jericho loudly proclaimed in an angered tone. She looked up to study his profile as he glared at the passers-by with a heated anger behind his bright blue eyes.

"Come on Jericho, let's just ignore them and get some food." She offered softly as she tugged at his sleeve. He sighed dramatically as he allowed her to pull him into the restaurant that sold his favorite hotdogs. They moved quickly to a table near the back, where they could go unnoticed by those who might walk past the large windows that made up the buildings face.

"So, how are the wedding plans going?" she asked as she accepted a menu from a very pretty waitress who smiled at her sweetly before pulling out a small notepad and blowing a tiny bubble which she quickly popped.

"What do the two of you want tonight?" she asked as she readied her pen.

"I want two supreme chilli dogs and a glass of tea." Jericho stated as he handed back his own menu. She looked over hers briefly before sighing and ordering the same thing.

"That's two orders of tea and four chill Supremes'." The waitress smiled at her once again before turning to face Jericho, "By the way, Jessie stopped by earlier to drop off my invitation, I think it's so cute that you two are finally going to make it official." She winked at him before moving on into the kitchen.

"When do I get mine?" Emily asked playfully as she leaned forward to look him in the eye.

"Jessie just wants family there, and it's her day. Marrissa is her younger cousin." He stated as he looked away from her awkwardly. She shrugged and scratched at the spot behind her ear.

"It's okay, I was just playing around with you." She insisted as she waved her hands before her face. He rested his cheek on his palm and smiled as he watched her.

"You know, now that I think about it, you aren't much different than when we were kids." He said with a soft chuckle, "Still the same shy little Emily who doesn't want to hurt anyone's feelings. You need to learn to stand up for yourself more often, like you did when you defended Scar." She looked down at the table as he spoke and bit her bottom lip, worrying it between her teeth as she thought over his words. He frowned as he watched her reactions with worried eyes.

"So, how's the new foot doing?" he asked as he looked down at the table rather than at her disheartened face.

"It's okay I guess, I'm still getting used to it." she twisted her automail foot around n her boot as she spoke. It had taken Winry nearly two months just to make a foot. She remembered the girl saying quite pointedly that she was far too used to making full limbs as she glared at Edward.

"Does it hurt?" He asked as their dirks were sat before them.

"Every day." She answered honestly, "The worst was when they had to amputate the area that Roy had cauterized for me so the automail would have some nerve endings to connect to." She shrugged and took a sip from her tea, "Compared to that, the everyday pain is not so bad." She smiled as she finished speaking.

"What about the other pain?" Jericho asked as he lifted his own glass of tea to his lips.

"Other pain?" she looked up to glance at his face carefully.

"Have you even tried to speak to Edward yet?" he asked calmly. She furrowed her brow as she pressed her tea glass to her lips.

"I don't want to talk about Ed." She stated softly after taking the longest sip she could from her glass,

"I'll take that as a no, Poor Ed." He sighed. She slammed her glass down onto the table after he spoke.

"Why is everyone playing me off as the bad guy here?" she asked with an angry huff, "He turned me down, not the other way around! I hear the whispers, people asking 'How can Fullmetal take living with her when she is so cold to him?' He is cold to me! Treating me like I'm some disease ridden rodent and running away when I show the smallest amount of interests in him and then acting like it never happened!" she furiously wiped the tears that had been streaming down her cheeks away as she inhaled sharply, "Yes it hurts dammit! It hurts so fucking much!" she stood quickly and rushed out of the dining room into the sunny daylight, then out of sight all together.

"Is that why you sent me the message to come here today?" Jericho raised his eyebrow and turned to look over his shoulder at the male sitting alone behind him.

"So just how much of that did you hear, Ed?" he asked as he reached over to pull the back hood down revealing a head of shockingly blonde hair. Edward was staring straight ahead with his arms crossed over his chest and his face twisted into one of emotional pain.

"All of it, I was here before you two showed up." He stated as he clutched his flesh arm in his automail hand, "I came ready to see that she had moved on, ready to accept it but-"

"She can't move on Edward, not from you apparently." Jericho cut him off quickly as he turned his back to him, "I heard from your brother that you want her to be happy, no matter how much pain that you were put through for it." he sighed and shook his head slowly, "The only way that girl is going to be happy again is if it was with you, idiot." He sighed once again.

"Why are you doing this for me?" Ed felt a warm line of blood cut down his arm as his automail digits bit into his skin, "Didn't you love her once upon a time?"

"Oh Elric, I still love her, more and more every day. That is why I can't stand seeing her live like this." Jericho clenched his fist and threw a wad of bills down on the table. He stood and steped up beside Ed's empty table, "If you love her so damn much then just tell her already." He demanded.

"I'll only end up hurting her again." Edward sighed without meeting the red heads eyes.

"you're hurting her now." Jericho stated softly before turning and walking calmly out of the resturant, "Who knew that I loved her like a little sister all along?" he asked himself as he stuffed his hands into his pockets, crumpling the invitation he had hidden in his right pocket as he did so.

(End of Chapter 1: I decided to start off with a bit of romantic turmoil for the dear readers of Butterflies and Blood that may have felt dejected considering how the last chapter ended. I also felt like clearing up a bit of the Jericho story plot for the readers who felt the need to pm me questions about it. The best way to get ahold of me and let me know what you would like to see happen next in the story is to write it in a review, I read the review page every time I am notified of a new one so please feel free to tell me anything at all there.)

 **Emily:** "We should have emphasized my operation more this chapter! I got a new foot after all."

 **Added-OC:** *sigh* "This is the first chapter, there is more to come."

 **Emily:** "Oh yeah, I wonder how Ed will react! Please read the next chapter when this lousy writer decides to post it!"

 **Added-OC:** "I think my characters are out to get me." *sighs once again* "Oh well. See you next time!"


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2:

The days leading up to both Jericho's wedding and Emily's test drifted by in a haze of blurring thoughts; Emily did not leave her room, even to meet up with Jericho at the park like she had done so many times before. She sat in the middle of her bed for the most part, surrounded by research notes and letters that she was studying in an attempt to pass her test. She had not been given even the slightest hint as to how the test was given so she prayed that she would get through it fine as long as she could remember the basics of medicinal alchemy. It was after all a test that she had been studying for for over a year at that point, she couldn't possibly fail at the rate she was going.

"I just have to hope I have studied enough for my poor skill set to be outshone." She sighed as she thought of how long it took her just to master the simplest of arrays. It had taken her three long months to get the simple wooden doll array that the Elric's taught her to produce a specimen that resembled a doll at least. She hoped that using the same array she had introduced to the council when she was requesting this test would work out for her.

"I need to show that I could use it on a human." She furrowed her brow as she bit her thumbnail between her front teeth. She could show its use on small animals, sure, but she would impress them most if she could get a human volunteer that could show the council the practical applications of her array in everyday life. She sighed as she leaned back on her elbows and glanced to her large open window with tired eyes. She allowed herself a soft yawn as she covered her mouth with one hand.

"Emily." She turned to see Edward standing in her doorway which had been opened when she was too busy to pay attention to the noise it had caused. Her lips pulled down into a deep frown before she turned away from him to look out her window once again, "Emily, I think we should talk about what happened." Edward was not looking at her either; instead he was studying the fine lines in her wallpaper near her door. She tilted her head in his direction as he followed the pattern along her wall until they moved over her bed. Their eyes locked for a moment and she turned her head to look down at the piece of paper caught between her shaking hands.

"Emily-"

"If you don't mind," she cut him off curtly as she laid the papers down carefully amongst the others on her bed, "I am very busy studying at the moment and have no time for you." He lip quivered as she spoke and she was so scared of how he would react that she could not look him in the eye. His nod went unnoticed but the loud creaking of her door slowly closing caught her attention and she looked up to see Edward had closed himself into the room with her. Her back straightened as her eyes widened at the sight of him resting his back against the door.

"I'm done with this game." He stated as he stepped forward. She blinked in confusion as he stopped at the side of her bed and lifted one of her research notes to study the words she had scrawled across the page, "If you don't want to talk to me again then that's fine, but If you are only doing it because of how you are feeling about that time after you lost your foot," he sighed and rubbed his forehead between his finger and thumb as he sat down on a few papers that were almost falling off the bed.

"It's about so much more than that." She muttered as she began to gather her notes and books into a pile on the other side of her from Ed. He frowned as he watched her movements silently and waited until she slid from the other side of the bed and lifted the awkward pile into her arms before standing as well and moving to block her exit.

"Emily, I know you are going through a lot right now but I hope you know that you can talk to me." He stated as he followed her eyes with his own. She moved her silver hues about in order to avoid locking them with his gold ones as he did so.

"I can't talk to you Ed," she stated softly as she closed her eyes, "It's hard enough to avoid you; it would kill me to pretend that everything is alright here." She shook her head and clutched her research notes closer to her chest as she spoke, "I can't afford to get sidetracked anymore, I need to focus on my test." She took a step back from him as she spoke, her eyes falling to the plush carpet in hopes of avoiding his wide gaze.

"You really want to become a State Alchemist that badly huh?" he sighed as he crossed his arms over his chest. She looked up then, studying the sharp lines and angles of his face that had only appeared recently. She found herself wondering just how much stress he could be under in order to cause himself to look so different than he had only a month or so before.

"Of course I do, what kind of question is that?" she asked as she moved to step past him, only to gasp when she was grabbed by the forearm. She turned her head quickly to glare into his golden orbs that were narrowed at her face a mere two inches away. For a moment their distance caused her heart to pound painfully against her ribcage, only for her mind to recall him shirking away from her touch the last time she had come so close. She shook her head quickly to clear her mind of the memory and pulled her arm out of his hands grip. It had become exceedingly easier to rip herself free of his grip once he had started only using his flesh hand when coming in contact with people around himself.

"You don't have to feel like you need to become a State Alchemist to follow your dream. I am here to help you and so is Alphonse." He stated as he stared into her eyes with a sad determination.

"Do forgive me if I don't want your help." She stated dryly, "I have already made a backup plan just in case I don't become a State Alchemist anyway." She muttered as she looked away from his eyes. She opened the door and quickly stepped out before he had time to respond to her words. She moved towards the end of the hall where her study rested with the papers pressed into her chest and her brow furrowed so much that she was beginning to feel the starts of a headache coming on. She pushed her study door open with her foot and slipped inside.

The room was still dark as she made her way across the hardwood floor to her cluttered desk and sat the papers on top of the rest. Her head spun as she sat in her uncles antique office chair and rested her head on her open palm with an exhausted sigh. She had not meant to speak to him like she did but as she feared as soon as she finally opened her mouth she couldn't say anything at all nice to the Alchemist that broke her heart. She wondered briefly if this was how Jericho had felt towards her before they had made up after their breakup. Of course in her case there had been nothing to break up in the first place.

Edward stood before Roy and Breda with his arms outstretched on each side, he wore a frown that told them he was nowhere near happy about his situation as his golden eyes glared about him while he was being poked and prodded by the stranger who was currently squatted down behind him.

"Come on Ed, it's not so bad, it's a tailor made suit after all." Roy stated with a smile as he watched the younger alchemist squirm at the tailors touch.

"Why the hell do I have to go to this thing?" Ed grumbled as he shifted on his feet. Breda sighed at his words and shrugged as he turned to Roy, expecting him to answer Edwards's question.

"Captain Mae expects all of the State Alchemists to be there in order to perform for the newlyweds upon them running down the aisle after the conclusion of the ceremony." Roy stated with a smirk. Edward frowned angrily as he clenched his fists. The tailor attempted to push a straight pin through the inner seam of Ed's pants only for it to snap in half when it hit against the boys leg.

"Please stand still sir." The male who wore a tightly fitted suit jacket and pants over a skin tight black shirt frowned at Edward as he once again adjusted his leg to the position he needed it to be. Edward grumbled illegible words that caused Roy to smile once again.

"I don't see why we all need to be dress up for a dumb wedding." Edward complained as he looked over his shoulder at the tailor's annoyed face.

"It is a wedding after all." Roy stated with a shrug, "Besides the Captain is paying for these so you get a free suit made just for you." He chuckled a bit as the blonde rolled his eyes in annoyance. Breda who sat off to the side in his full military uniform frowned as he jotted down the numbers that the tailor called out to him. Edward had only agreed to meet Roy in his office because he thought the dark haired Colonel wanted to talk to him about the now liquefied philosopher's stone that rested in a vial on his desk. He knew that it was the real deal, that he could use it to return Alphonse's body to him, but the Flame Alchemist refused to allow him access to it. He had given a long verbal argument against having a suit tailored onto his body but in the end with three against him he had to give in and stand on the stool that Roy had readied for him beforehand.

"I still don't understand why we have to sit through the entire ceremony, I don't even like either of the people I have to go see." Edward grumbled as he looked at Roy once again.

"Because the good Captain Mae has personally invited us to watch his daughter become Mrs. Rose and we have to go for politeness sake.

"Emily is taking her test though." Edward complained softly as he closed his eyes against the bright flash of a camera right outside Roy's large office windows.

"I do believe that she was expressly not invited by the bride." Breda stated as he flipped through the papers on his clipboard.

"Her test is during the wedding! No one will be there to support her if all the State Alchemists go to the stupid wedding." Edward argued as he cut his eyes at the man who just glanced up from the clipboard before shrugging dryly.

"What if she doesn't want anyone there?" He jumped and turned quickly while the others around him turned their attention to the open door of the office. Emily stood there with her arms crossed and her brow furrowed tightly as she shot him an angry glare. Roy stood and stepped past Edward to place his hand on her shoulder and smile down at her in a fatherly manner.

"Having a case of nerves?" Roy asked as he leaned down to look into her face.

"No." she stated as she looked away from Edward, "I just don't feel like my test should be a public spectacle, good for Jericho for getting married and all and wanting everyone there but I feel like my test shouldn't be that big of a deal." She reached into the messenger bag and passed Roy the stack of papers she had come to deliver to him, "These should be the last of them, all of my results from studying my dad's array." She shrugged to adjust the bags strap on her shoulder as she spoke.

"Why thank you Miss Hagraven, this will be very helpful to us when we mass produce it for our Alchemy inclined troops." Roy stated merrily as he took the papers from her hand.

"Great a mass produced quantity of alchemists who are going to walk around with the life liquid array." She muttered as she turned to leave, "Just what dad wanted," she spat as she stepped out of the room and closed the doors behind her.

"You're using her for her father's work?" Edward asked as he watched Roy walk around him to place the papers down on top of his nearly empty desk. The Colonel rolled his eyes as he glanced over his shoulder at Ed before turning and leaning his lower back against the desk and crossing his arms before his chest.

"You make it sound worse than it truly is Fullmetal, we are attempting to create a special forces group designed specifically for taking out your little Homunculi friends so that we won't have to worry about them returning to cause trouble for us once again." He explained in a very tired voice. He Shifted on his heels as he awaited the younger Alchemists argument against it, to his surprise it did not come. Edward instead lowered his head in a half nod and seemed to give up on the entire argument. He instead chose to stand still and ignore the other three in the room while the tailor finished his adjustments on the suit.

"It's not like you have any say in what she does with her life." Breda stated suddenly causing the other two to turn and look at him in confusion, "I mean, sure you live with her but it's in a body guard sort of way right?" As he asked the question he lifted his head to look Edward in the eye. Edward sighed and chose to look at the ground as he stepped down from the stool and carefully removed the suit jacket.

"That's my fault." He stated as he passed the jacket to the tailor and began to remove the pants just as carefully. Roy raised his eyebrow as Edward stepped out of the pants and reached for his usual garments. The metal from his automail leg gleamed in the bright light of the office as he moved to the couch to slide his legs into the black leather pants he had worn into the office.

"That sounds like you regret it." the Colonel leaned forward as he rested his palms on the edge of his desk top.

"I didn't when it happened but in light of recent discoveries I do regret it." Edward sighed as he leaned back against the back of the couch and slid his pants fully on, "It may be too late for me to correct my actions though."

"What's with the intelligent speech?" Roy prodded as he smirked, "Usually you are screaming obscenities at this point." He tilted his head up as the older man spoke and gave a small shrug in return to his question.

"Maybe I'm growing up." He offered as he stood and snatched his long red coat off the back of the couch. He pulled his arms through the sleeves and snapped the collar as he allowed the fabric to fall against his shoulders and back, "If that's all you need I'll be going home now." He stated without looking at the others.

"Be sure to be here an hour before the ceremony to get ready." Breda called out as Edward stepped towards the office door.

"Yeah, yeah," Edward stated as he waved absently at them over his shoulder and opened the door. The office fell into silence as he stepped out into the hallway and much like Emily had, closed the door behind him.

"He's a good kid; he just needs to think about what's important to him." Roy stated as the doors shut with a click.

"You are keeping him away from the stone. What else could he be thinking about right now?" Breda asked as he scribbled a few extra notes on the paper in his hands.

"Oh man, you don't understand young love do you?" Roy snickered as he moved to sit in his desk chair, "Those two keep dancing around in circles and never seem to click, but I think if they put their heads together they would be able to get over their losses and move onto a happy new dawn." He smiled proudly at his words as he glanced at his companion's irritated face.

"You are oblivious to the fact that she will be leaving the city if she fails the test tomorrow." Breda stated as he stood and handed the clipboard over to the tailor. Roy shrugged as he watched Breda leave as well as the tailor who waved his farewells as he carried a suitcase full of their adjusted yet incomplete suits in his other hand. He leaned forward to rest his elbows on his desktop and his chin on his interlocked fingers. He knew that there could be no way for her to fail her test while everything that could distract her was nowhere to be seen, that was one of the main reasons he had personally scheduled her test for the same time as her ex-boyfriend's wedding.

Emily took in a sharp breath as she stood before the large double doors that lead into the Testing Center. She was dressed in her best suit and a long white lab coat in the hopes of impressing the ones who would be judging her and showing just how serious she was about becoming a medical alchemist. She let out a slow breath as she reached forward to push the doors open as she took a step forward. The image of the room opened up before her; six strangers, three on each side of the room, sat facing a hospital bed where a young child lay. The boys arm was large with its swelling and a dark black-purple hue. She noticed as she approached the child that the arm hung at an odd angle from just above the elbow, causing the poor boys hand to hang from the bed with an upturned wrist that was swollen so much that the tight skin seemed ready to burst open like a balloon. If the boy had not been sedated then she was sure that he would be writhing in pain that very moment. She closed her eyes as she took in a steadying breath before clenching her fists at her sides. Someone had broken this boys arm purposefully just for her test, someone who had a sick sense of the world and would do this just for a laugh at her own expense.

"Are we ready Miss Hagraven?" She opened her eyes and looked up quickly at the softly smiling face of the Fuhrer King Bradley. Her eye twitched where the skin of her eye lid met her nose as she looked into his thin blue eye.

"Yes sir." She stated softly as she looked down at the boy once again. She pulled a felt tipped pen from her coat pocket and popped the top of it off with her teeth before placing the tip against the boys skin. She made careful strokes as she etched the bone melding array onto his skin, being sure to make the marks in such a fashion as to stop any smearing before it could happen. She leaned forward and pressed her fingertips to the swollen flesh as she closed her eyes and focused on the array that she had carefully drawn just above where her hands rested. She slowly slid her fingers up his skin until a small twinge of energy told her they rested at the edges of the array. With a slow exhale she focused on the array and urged the energy to flow in the way that she had designed.

A shocked gasp from the onlookers as a white light flashed through the room from the boys arm. She opened her eyes to watch as the arm twitched and straightened itself along the bedsheets where it rested. The swelling began to slowly subside as well causing her to sigh in relief. She took two steps backwards to increase her distance from the bed as she watched the bruise slowly fade away into a dark red color that covered his arm. She looked up to see Bradley smiling and nodding at her in acceptance of her work. She let out a slow breath as she turned to each side of the room in turn and bowed low to the onlookers.

"You kept your word to make broken bones a thing of the past, just as you promised a year ago." Bradley stated as he stood and made his way to the hospital bed to inspect the boys arm, "You seem to have mended the bones in the correct fashion without the need of a cast or splint." He nodded as he poked the skin with his white gloved finger, "Truly a job well done for any medical professional." He added as a final thought.

"Thank you sir, for your praises." She stated as she bowed her head towards him.

"However how you plan on using this in the field if the cause arises for you to do so will affect our decision." He stated as he stepped back from the bed and rested his hand on the handle of his sheathed blade.

"This array would allow me to heal bones instantaneously on the field, as well as that I am currently working on an array that would heal and possibly regrow missing organs." She stated as she turned to fully face him.

"Such high hopes, lets pray that the heights in which you aspire are reachable, so that you do not simply crash and burn." He stated as his arm relaxed, "I have heard tale of you having problems with simple arrays at the beginning." He added as he looked down at her.

"It was a simple mental block after my parent's departure from this world, I can assure you that I have gotten pass it and plan to continue my research un fettered by that which held me back before." After she spoke the onlookers murmured between themselves, seemingly pleased by her short speech.

"That was the answer I was hoping for." He gave her a short nod before turning and making his way back to his chair, "We will discuss what we have seen and heard today and give you word by the end of the week as to our decision. Right now I do believe I have a wedding that I am needed at. You may go." He waved his hand as he dismissed her and she bowed to him once again.

"Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to showcase my skills." She stated as she righted herself and turned to leave the room quietly.

(End of Chapter 2: thank you for reading I do hope you are enjoying the story thus far! As always I you wish to give your opinion on the current chapters or want to give me an idea as to what you would like to read, please feel free to write a review!)


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3:

Ed was not happy to be sitting in the third row on the groom's side, he was also not happy to be alchemizing long half loops of metal that swirled about each other above the happily married couples heads as they walked calmly down the rose petal sprinkled carpet. Roy, who sat on the opposite side of him and had a very clear view of his office window from his seat seemed even less pleased to be there than Edward himself, and Ed found himself dodging more flames that he should have as the Colonel sent them down his carefully crafted metal designs. He frowned as he inwardly urged him to just stop stealing glances at the building behind him and pay attention to his damn job. Alchemist of all kinds were lined up at the edges of the rows casting much the same sorts of half loops over the couples heads as they had planned for three days. Edward wondered momentarily why they had such short practices when it was the praised Captain Mae's daughter who was the bride before he caught a hint of something behind Roy's dark eyes.

 _Why is that bastard amused?_ He asked himself as he added a third long metal arch to the entwined design. He was using metal that had been given to him before hand in a large white pot that he had kept at the side of his chair. He could not afford to use the metal from his arm or leg out of fear of a young blonde who was good with a monkey wrench.

"Thank you all for coming!" the Captains loud call broke his train of thought and caused him to turn towards the old man who was balding on top of his head and attempted to cover it with a poor excuse for a comb over, "Now if you would all be so kind to join us in the galley hall for the reception I am sure you will all enjoy the feast my personal caterers have prepared." Edward quickly clapped his hands once more and pressed them against the braided metal, urging it to return to the pot it had rested in before his job had begun. He righted himself in time to see nearly everyone else filing towards the main doors of the Central Command Building, everyone but Roy himself. The man strode over to him as if he had an amusing joke on the edge of his tongue and could not wait to tell it. Edward frowned as the man's shadow fell over his face.

"You know, you are no good at social events." Roy stated as he crossed his arms over his tuxedo jacket. Compared to Edwards plain suit, the higher ups of the military including Roy Mustang himself wore clothes befitting royalty.

"Yet here I am." Edward grumbled with anger that he only barely held back.

"If I were you I would hide away from the party." Roy suggested as he glanced up at his office window, "I do think you have some unfinished business anyway, in the office." He added as he tilted his head down to Edward before returning his eyes to the window. Edward followed his gaze just in time to see a shadowed figure move out of sight in the windows glass filled frame. His mouth hung open slightly as his mind raced in wonder of who the shadow could belong to.

"Well I guess I should see to it then." He stated as he turned and walked away from Roy who was smirking at his back. He knew full well who had been hovering in his window for the final parts of the ceremony, if Fullmetal could keep his head about him then maybe he could find peace of mind after all.

She had found her way to Roy's office after being dismissed from her test. She had heard a rumor from Havoc a few days prior that it would have a good view of the wedding and had decided to watch from above rather than ruining Jericho and Jessie's day by appearing unannounced to it. However as soon as she had approached the window her eyes had locked onto Edward and she could not force them to tear away from the blondes back. His hair, which was usually tied in a tight braid, was tied close to the top of his scalp in a long ponytail; that combined with his sharp dark black suit caused her to remember the image of her parent's associate that Scar had found in an old family album before it was destroyed as well as her childhood home. At this point she discovered a large bottle of alcohol that she couldn't quite decipher the name of. She pulled the cork from the bottle and drank deeply from it, coughing as the liquid scorched down her throat to settle like a fire in her belly. She winced at the taste before pressing the bottle to her lips and drinking from it once again. Her head swam as the alcohol reached it and she stumbled back to hit his office chair roughly with her back.

"Here's to your eternal happiness." She slurred as she raised the bottle to the light filtering in through the glass of the window. She smiled before taking yet another long drink from it. The room was beginning to swim as her eyesight grew fuzzy. She reached up to place one hand against her head as a manic giggle left her lips, "Not like I will get mine." She added to her small toast as another giggled rocked her body. She shifted awkwardly on her feet as her hand that held the bottle went slack, allowing the thick glass of it to slip from between her fingers and crash to the floor beside her feet. The glass shattered on impact and the remaining liquid splattered across the hardwood as well as her shoes.

"Oops." She giggled once again as she looked down upon the wreckage, she had never had a drop of alcohol before and was quickly finding out that she was a very low tolerance drinker. She could not help her lips curling up in a smile as she stumbled around the desk before making her way clumsily across the room to fall into the cool fabric of the couch cushions. She clutched at the fabric as the room swam around her, her chuckles died down as she closed her eyes against the dizzying sight before her. She mumbled incoherently as she felt herself being pulled towards the comfort of sleep. It had been nearly two days since she had given herself a chance to rest, she had been far too busy studying up on her research in order to be sure that she gave it her all during the testing.

"Maybe, just a nap." She yawned softly as she slipped off into sleep.

It was a full twenty minutes before Edward managed to get clear of the throng of people piling into the Central Command Center and making his way to the large staircase leading to the upper levels. Roy had noticed someone loitering in his office and had sent Edward to investigate personally. He did not know what the Colonel bastard was thinking, but he would not let the man get one up on him by failing in the task at hand. All he needed was something for the man to hold over his head for his plans to veer off track drastically. He focused on this thought as he climbed the stairs to the third floor where Roy's office was located. Many people passed by him while giving him odd glances as they mumbled between themselves how odd it was for the Fullmetal Alchemist to be dressed to the nines when headed towards his superior officers office. He stuffed his hands in his suit pants angrily as he thought of his long red coat still at Emily's house, probably being washed by Alphonse who openly stated he did not want to go to the wedding and since he did not have to go then he would stay home.

He stomped his way down the hall to the doors of Mustangs office and frowned as he pushed the cracked doors fully open. His Gold eyes scanned the Alcohol infused room as he looked for an intruder. From his viewpoint he could see the back of the couch and the long table that sat between it and Roy's desk. Off to each side were the filing room doors, each shut tightly and locked against anyone but the first lieutenant and Roy himself. Finally his eyes honed in on the smallest amount of movement from just beyond the back of the couch. He crept forward with his hands at the ready to alchemize his blade if needed. He moved slowly around the couch hoping to get the drop on whoever had decided to sneak into Roy's office and hide from him. He had made it about halfway around the couch when it dawned on him who was lying across it.

Emily was asleep with her head resting awkwardly on the couch pillows and her legs sprawled out across the couch cushions. Her automail foot hung off the side with the dress shoe that had once adorned it resting on its side on the floor below. Her chest rose and fell slowly as she slept and her right arm covered her face while the left rested on her lower abdomen. He quickly realized that she was one of the sources of the alcoholic smell.

"Oh, Emily." He sighed as he moved around to squat down before her. He gently moved her arm away from her face with his automail hand while he brushed the hair out of it with his flesh digits. She looked so peaceful laying there that it brought a soft smile to his lips. He stood and reached for the throw over that Havoc had snuck into the office one day just for everyone to tell him to leave it there, and pulled it down over her legs. As he moved to pull it up over her a piece of paper hanging from her pocket caught his eye. It was a brochure for a medical training camp located outside of Amestris. His face fell as he slipped it from her pocket and read over the words on the first page.

"You're running away?" he asked softly as he turned to look at her sleeping face. He felt a sinking sensation in his gut as he realized he had to be the reason for it, he had pushed her away to the point that she did not want to be anywhere near him. He crumpled the paper up in his hands as he growled softly to himself about how much of a full he was for letting this happen, "I should have just told her the truth that night, then everything would be alright. She wouldn't be trying so hard to get away from me." His shoulders shook as he clenched the paper tighter in his automail hand. He couldn't let her just run away from them just because he was an idiot, he had to tell her the truth and soon, or else he feared he would never get the chance.

"Edward.." he jumped a bit when he heard her softly mumble his name. She was dreaming about him? He smiled at the thought. Perhaps she still cared about him after all. He leaned forward to rest his forehead against hers and closed his eyes as he allowed himself to daydream that they were actually together in her home, perhaps in her bedroom, while she slept against him.

"Edward?" her voice was a soft whisper in his ears.

"Hmm." He nodded his head against hers without opening his eyes.

"Edward what the hell are you doing?" his eyes popped open then, to look directly into the wide silver depths of her own. His eyes widened as he backed away from her so quickly that he fell back onto his butt with a thump that was heard clearly in the room. She sat up quickly only to grab her head in her hands and groan loudly as she closed her eyes once again.

"Are you okay?" he asked as he pushed himself up to his knees.

"You're asking me that? What the hell were you doing?" she demanded as she cast her narrow eyed glare towards him. He opened his mouth to speak but quickly thought better of it and closed it with an audible pop.

"I'm waiting." She nearly growled the words to him as she furrowed her brow.

"I-" he began before looking down as he tried to think of the right words to say, "I was just," he looked back up at her to see the anger slipping from her face as she watched his pitiful display. He took in a deep breath before standing and making his way over to her with a determined gleam in his eyes. His hands clasped her shoulders as he pressed his forehead against hers once again.

"Emily, this is really hard for me to say right now so please just bear with me okay." He stated as he closed his eyes, feeling the warmth of her skin against his own.

"Why should I give you the time of day after you treated me like some diseased freak?" her voice was still so sweet to him even when its tine was full of venomous rage.

"Dammit Emily why does everything have to be so hard when it comes to you." It was not a question for her; rather it was a statement towards himself.

"You pushed me away." She accused as warm tears pooled about the bottoms of her eyes. She could feel the tears threatening to spill over to her cheeks so she shut her eyes against them in hopes of keeping him from knowing the pain she was in.

"I didn't want to hurt you again Emily." His hand slid down to rest on the wrist that his automail hand had sprained all that time ago. His fingers massaged her smooth skin as he looked down to her chin rather than her eyes which had been do full of pain they were nearly overflowing.

"You know that your automail was busted and you couldn't control the grip." She did not know why she was consoling him when she was supposed to be avoiding him. She opened her eyes to look down to where his warm flesh met her arm. His fingers were still rhythmically massaging the area even as he looked away from her all together.

"You lost your foot because of me." He stated softly.

"I would have lost a lot more if you all weren't there to distract that brute." She clenched her jaw tightly after she spoke. The feeling that had settled in her chest was growing like a large bubble. It was a warm feeling that was both painful and soothing, causing her head to spin.

"Emily." He looked up to see a look of confusion painted across her rose colored cheeks. He moved his hand from her wrist as he stood slightly to stare at her eye to eye, "Emily I just didn't want you to go through any more pain. All I can bring with me is suffering; my entire life is filled with it, I lost my mother, my brother; I couldn't lose you to, I wouldn't be able to stand it." She stared at him in confused shock as he spoke. He sounded as if he did not think she could understand his position in life.

"Edward, I have lost my family as well if you recall." She stated as she closed her hands into fists upon her knees, "You act like you were doing me a favor but the only time you hurt me was when you pushed me away." She moved then to push against his chest and shove him down to the floor, "You do not think about anyone but yourself." She accused as she stood and made her way around him to rest herself against Roy's desk, "I thought you actually loved me." She stated as the warm tears she had been holding at bay began to cut warm trails down her cheeks.

Edward stood and turned to face her shaking back, and bit the inside of his lip as he slowly approached her. He moved too quickly for her, in her drunken state, to avoid him before he could wrap his arms around her and pull her into his chest. It was an odd sensation, her back meeting both warm flesh and cold steel as his arms held her tightly but not uncomfortably so. She could feel his warm breath on the back of her neck as his face rested against her hair.

"I do love you Emily." He stated softly as he increased the pressure lightly against her in a soft hug, "I didn't want to hurt you anymore than you've already been hurt. I didn't know that it would be this way." He grimaced as he spoke softly in her ear. She turned her head to see his eyes shut tightly, the long golden lashes he bore brushed against the tops of his cheeks as he leaned his head down to rest his forehead against her shoulder.

"You are such a pain sometimes." She sighed as she turned around in his arms to wrap hers around him as well, resting on his shoulders before pulling his head against her own shoulders smooth dip. She gasped softly as he turned his head to brush his nose against the skin of her neck. His hands slid down to rest against her lower back as he raised his head to look deeply into her eyes.

"Will you forgive me?" he asked softly. She sighed as she lifted one hand to stroke the back of his neck softly.

"Do you really love me?" she asked softly. He smiled as he leaned forward to lightly brush his lips against her own, as their skin made contact a jolt ran down her spine, sending a tingly feeling rushing down her arms and legs to settle at the tips of her flesh digits. He smiled against the sharp intake of air that the feelings forced her to inhale.

"I do." His words were heavy, sending wave after wave of emotions running through her chest. She closed her eyes as his lips pressed against hers once again, this time more forceful as if he was determined to mold her lips into his own.

"Well isn't this a sight." They both jumped apart and fully faced the doorway where Roy stood with two plates in his hands, "If you kids insist on smothering one another I hope that you will close the door before hand in the future." He stated as he approached them smiling as he walked, "Now don't look so glum." He stated to Ed causing Emily to glance up at the blondes face. He was frowning and glaring at the older man, "Here I brought cake." She looked back at Roy in time to grab the plate that had been shoved towards her, "Orders from the groom, it seems that he knew you two were up her while they were enjoying the party."

"Jericho sent you up here?" Emily took a step forward as she asked the question, only to be stopped by Edwards hand on her wrist.

"Why did he think we were up here?" He asked as he continued to glare at the black haired older man.

"It seems he noticed Emily in the window after the ceremony, and you heading up here very unstealthily afterwards." Roy chuckled lightly as he sat Edward's slice of cake on the table that rested behind his back.

"I am very stealthy." Edward nearly pouted as he looked down at the ground. She smiled and slid her hand into his before squeezing it gently, unworried that what she was applying pressure to was the cool steel of his automail.

Roy chuckled at the sight and moved past them to sit at his desk, kicking the shards from the bottle that was broken during her drinking spree as he did so. He leaned forward to rest his elbows on the desktop as he laced his fingers together and pressed the underside of his chin to the flat plane they created. He watched as the two turned to face him as if they were two school children who had been called into the principal's office.

"Though I personally am very happy you two finally pulled your heads out of your butts, however I think you should keep this between us for now, or I should say between the ones who have caught on." He began as he moved to rest his nose against his fingers, "What with Emily having just finished her exam in hopes of becoming the next State Alchemist, we wouldn't want people to think she passed or failed due to her ties with our own FullMetal Alchemist." He raised his eyebrow at Edward as he spoke, "Understand?"

"Yeah." She turned to look at Edwards's downcast face as he spoke.

 _I don't understand! It's not fair!_

She pressed her lips together tightly as she looked down at the floor while struggling with the thought. Her eyes widened as she felt Edwards warm hand envelop her own. She glanced up to see him smiling down at her sweetly as he squeezed her hand lightly.

"It won't be so bad," he explained softly, "We still live together so it's not like we have to avoid each other all the time." He shrugged as she looked down at the floor once again.

"It's just until you hear back from the board." Roy stated as he leaned back in his chair.

"This sucks." Emily muttered softly as she stared down at her feet. Roy chuckled as he watched her pout before making her way to the couch to retrieve her shoe that had slipped off of her automail foot. She sat down on the couch and pulled the shiny black leather shoe over her foot with an angry huff. She looked up angrily towards the Colonel only to grab her head and groan as another headache made itself known.

"I am never drinking again." She groaned as she rubbed her head.

"I think you should take her home Ed, strictly speaking as a bodyguard." Roy stated with a wink to the younger male.

"Yes sir." Edward sighed playfully as he made his way over to her and helped her to her feet, "It's the least I can do." He let her lean against him as he halfheartedly gave the Colonel a salute and turned her towards the door.

"You kids be good now." Mustang chuckled as he leaned back with a sigh while he watched the two of them disappear down the hallway. He sighed as he let his eyes slide down to the floor and his destroyed bottle of wine that was scattered across it, "Kids, always making a mess of things." He sighed softly as he shook his head.

(End of Chapter 3)


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4:

Emily was still foggy when she woke up in her own bed the next day. She groaned as she rolled over in hopes of slipping out of bed only to roll into the hard back of Edward. She jumped back In the bed before a fuzzy memory of the night before made her grab her forehead and wince in pain. She was experiencing a hangover, she knew that much, but she also knew how to get rid of it. It was a concoction that her mother had invented for a certain patient of hers who constantly came to her with a hangover, claiming that he drank too much due to his wife. Her mother would always mix warm honey with tea milk and pepper. It would nearly instantly cure the man and he praised her late mother for it every time he saw them.

She yawned as she slipped out of the other side of the bed and padded to the kitchen, passing by Alphonse who was too engrossed in his book to pay attention to her. When she reached her modest sized kitchen she quickly gathered the ingredients that she needed, smiling as she noted that even with the brothers living with her she didn't seem to need to buy milk any faster than before. She groaned softly to herself about how much drinking sucks as she mixed them together and took a cautious sip. Her face twitched as she attempted to control her gag reflex, the drink was straight up nasty and hard to swallow. She coughed as the pepper hit her throat and clutched at her chest her eyes watered as she silently gagged and braced herself against the sink.

"This stuff is just straight up gross." She spat into the seat as she coughed the words out. Her stomach and throat burned so badly that she forgot about her headache, "Why did I even try this crap." She grumbled as she tilted the cup over the sink and watched the off white liquid drain out.

"Are you feeling okay Emily?" she turned at the sound of his voice and smiled sweetly as she waved one hand in front of her face.

"Oh yeah Alphonse I'm just peachy." She answered as she chuckled halfheartedly.

"I was worried because brother stayed to watch over you last night." Alphonse stated as he rubbed his helmet, "When you came home last night brother was practically carrying you. I thought you were sick from using your alchemy too much yesterday."

"Oh come on Al, a little test isn't enough for me to get worn out." She said as she moved to sit at the table, "I just woke up with a little headache." She added as she tapped the side of her temple with her finger.

"Oh, that's good I thought you had a hangover." She looked to Al quickly with a hanging jaw and a soft 'urk' sound that told him all he needed to know, "You are a little young to be drinking Emily." Al added and she could swear she saw a look close to a smile along his metal face. She frowned and adjusted her head against her face until her cheek was resting against her palm.

"Yeah, I'll keep that in mind Al." she stated softly as she let out a sigh. It was true what everyone said abut Alphonse Elric, you could slip nothing pass him. She smiled as she looked down at the table when her fingers of her left hand were thumping rhythmically against the polished wood, "I guess I just got carried away last night, what with just taking a major test of my life and all. Trust me it won't happen again." She shrugged as she let her smile slip into a frown, "It was my mistake."

"You aren't going to leave us are you? Was that a mistake to?" she raised her eyebrow as she looked up at him with just the slightest amount of confusion lacing her features.

"What are you talking about?" she asked slowly. Alphonse jumped with a loud sound of clanking metal following his actions when she asked the question.

"Uh, um, I saw a brochure in the mail for a Medical training facility, it had a sign-up sheet with it." she wondered just how a boy made of metal could manage a scared stutter when he didn't have the parts to do so before that line of questioning lead into her thinking why could he talk in the first place.

"That is a safety net of sorts Al, If I can't be a medical Alchemist I would still like to go into the medical profession." she looked back down as she spoke, letting her right hand join her left in its rhythmical tapping on the table top, "That's the best place around to learn everything there is to know about medical care. My mom helped set it up a long time ago before I was born." She smiled at the memory of her mother and her fingers stopped their tapping against the wood.

"So you won't go?" Alphonse asked softly. She furrowed her brow gently and glanced up at him once again. She thought the metal features of his looked nearly hopeful, the thought caused her smile to spread slightly across her face.

"And what, Leave you and Ed the house? I don't think my late uncle would be too happy if his home was destroyed." She chuckled lightly as she stood and crossed her arms, "No, I think it would be best for me to stay here and keep an eye on you two."

After the words had left her lips two large metal arms were wrapped tightly around her and she was being lifted into the air, then she was spinning around the room in jerky motions as the joyous sound of a boy's laughter filled the room.

"Thank you Emily! We don't want to lose you!" he called out merrily and she chuckled awkwardly as she patted the top of his helmet that served as his head.

"You aren't going to lose me Al, I promise." She stated as he sat her down. She knew that he could not feel it but she still wrapped her arms around his middle and squeezed as hard as she could, "I think I have proven before that I don't stay gone long. At least not with you and Ed looking out for me." She chuckled as she released him and looked up into his glowing eyes.

"We will always look out for you. We love you." Alphonse stated it as a plain fact; this caused her heart to swell as much as her smile.

"I love you to Al, both of you." She gave him a soft punch against his steel chest, "Don't go forgetting that okay?" she gave him a gentle wink and moved to step past him. He turned to watch her as she headed out of the kitchen and turned to stride down the hallway, moments later he heard a surprised gasp and two pairs of mismatched feet running down the hallway.

Edward had surprised her by waiting in the hallway. She had been shocked to see him staring at her in a way she had never seen before. He reached for her and she let out a short gasp of surprise before smiling as she twisted out of his grip and rushed down the hallway. He followed her just like she somehow knew he would, and she lead him straight to her study at the end of the hall.

That was when she let him catch her.

His lips were the first thing she felt as they firmly pressed against her own, they moved from her lips to her chin, then her cheeks, each kiss was a lingering one as if he was memorizing her just by the feel of her skin on his lips.

"You, you were listening to us." She accused him around her shallow breaths. His touch was like fire across her skin as he continued his journey around to her neck and earlobe.

"I was." He admitted softly into her ear.

"You are sneaky." She panted.

"It's easy to be sneaky around Al." he shrugged before pulling away just enough to rest his forehead against her own.

"You seem particularly chipper this morning." She teased as she braced herself against the desk. Her eyelids fell to half-mast as she looked up to his face.

"I should be, someone I really care about just said they wouldn't leave." He stated as he opened his eyes to meet hers. She felt the warmth of a blush spreading from high on her cheeks, his eyes could bore into her own and just the mere sight of them made her legs weak. She was glad in that moment that she had chosen to brace her body against the desk, if she hadn't she would surely have been on her knees in that moment.

"Ed." She whispered softly as she pushed herself forward into his hard yet soft chest.

"Brother?" As one they looked towards the open door where Alphonse stood timidly filling the frame.

"What! Can't you see I'm busy?" Edward snapped before grumbling to himself and looking down, "Sorry Al." he muttered. She smiled, brotherly love was sweet.

"Um, the Colonel is here to check up on you two. He wanted to make sure Emily was doing okay after last night." Alphonse sounded like he was stuttering again; Emily made a mental note to question him on his ability to speak at a later time.

"Well FullMetal, seems you are adjusting well." Roy stated with a chuckle as he stepped past Al and leaned his shoulder against the wall. Emily's face turned a deep shade of red before she ducked under Ed's arm and moved to sit behind her desk in her uncle's large chair. Roy could remember Albert Hagraven sitting behind that desk, riffling through papers as he attempted to prove Emily's parents innocence. It seemed like so long ago for him; the trial had been held when he was still just a Major, it had caused uproar in the small community of State Alchemists he had been around at that time.

"What are you talking about?" It was Ed who spoke, after turning to lean his butt against the edge of her large desk and crossing his arms before his chest. Roy motioned towards Emily with one hand before letting out a soft sigh.

"FullMetal, we have a mission for you." He stated as his voice assumed a tone of authority. Emily sat up a bit straighter in her chair as her mouth hung open while Edward jumped to a fully standing position with his fists clenched at his sides and an angry frown upon his face.

"Why the hell did you come all this way to tell me about some damned mission?" he demanded his voice was full of venomous rage as he glared down the Colonel. The black haired man raised his hand in a motion that caused Edward to stop his rant before it even really began.

"We have some information regarding a certain Alchemist who specializes in Chimera research, much like our own late Sewing Life Alchemist." Roy stated sternly, "He is being transported to East City as we speak for a Ball of sorts held in his honor." The older man smiled as he rested his fingers against his chin, "It's in two weeks if you are interested in seeing him for yourself. He is one of the only ones capable of creating a stable Chimera with the capabilities of speech." He let his hand slide from his chin to rest in his upturned palm, "And it has been proven that he does not use humans in his Alchemy."

"The Philosophers stone?" Emily was the one to ask the question that all three were thinking. Alphonse's helmet leaned forward as he looked down at the ground and Edward turned to glance at her over his shoulder. She could not take the look that was in his eye as it stared her down, she chose instead to look down at the stack of papers on top of her desk. Mail and research notes mixed together in the stack and she noticed the brochure that Al had spoken of just barely thirty minutes before. She looked away from its dark blue cover after a moment and closed her eyes as she attempted to block out the image of his eye from her mind. It held both hope and despair, and also a subtle look of bewilderment like someone who had just been betrayed. She wasn't supposed to pry, she knew that, they didn't want her having anything to do with the stone. What she didn't know was why, when the stone itself could make anything possible. She kicked her automail foot as the image of her parents smiling faces popped into her mind.

 _Edward would understand; when he finds the stone I can bring them back and make them even better. Mom would be free of the sickness that could have killed her, and Dad could be happy again just like when I was a little girl._

"I will think about it." Ed was facing Roy fully again, and his fists had gone slack. She stared at the automail hand and wondered briefly what he had meant by it being his punishment after he had rescued her from the Homunculi a long time before. She was so lost in her musings that she missed the final parts of the conversation, jumping when Roy coughed loudly into his fist and standing from her chair to hide the fact that she had been surprised by it.

"Leaving already?" she asked as she gave Roy a shaky salute that just caused him to smile.

"Yes, I have business around the Central Command and I only stopped by because Edward here was late reporting in." He stated as he pointed to the young blonde alchemist with his thumb. She nodded as he spoke.

"I guess we will see you later today." She stated as she tilted her head, "Would it be too much to ask if there has been any word on my results?"

"No word yet, I would advise you to await the time given to you and to not push your luck with continued questions of that sort." His voice, which was certainly stern as he spoke the words to her, held a sharp edge to them, suggesting that there was more than just the obvious reasons for her not to pry into it.

"Yes sir, sorry." She stated as she slowly sat back down in her chair.

"What the hell?" Edward seemed to explode into rage just seconds after her butt hit the seat cushion, "She has every right to ask questions about her own damn test! It's not like she's prying into military secrets, she's just curious." His fists had clenched once again as he glared at Roy. The Colonel ignored his protests and looked in Emily's eyes directly.

"This mission, the boys won't be able to do it alone. They won't get past the gate without a female companion." He gave her a sharp nod before continuing, "I think it would be best if you joined them on this one, it would give you a taste of what a State Alchemists life is really like." With that he was gone, slipping out of her line of sight when he stepped behind Alphonse's large metal body.

"I guess that settles things," she sighed as she stood and stepped around her desk, "I better look for a nice dress." She groaned as she made her way to the door only to be stopped by Edward grabbing her arm. She pouted a bit in frustration; this was becoming a habit of his, and she knew what came next.

"You aren't going, the mission could get real dangerous real fast." He stated as she turned to look into his deep amber gold eyes. She looked away from them before quickly glancing back.

"I have to go." She narrowed her eyes as she spoke, "You're so concerned about losing me so you know how I feel, I have to go to make sure I won't lose you." She furrowed her brow as she turned her head towards Alphonse, "Either of you."

"You really want to do this?" It was Alphonse who asked causing her to turn towards him.

"It's not want Al, its necessity, I can't have you show up at my door with Ed like you did the night he was injured by Envy. I couldn't do anything then and it made me feel so damn helpless, if I can stop that from happening before it even starts then I should, I need to try Al." she did not see Ed touch his right side gently with his flesh fingers, the same side she had worked tirelessly to patch up before she even really knew them. Back then she still thought that Alphonse just had a thing for wearing armor and that Edward was a fluke of the system to be a state alchemist while being so young.

"If you go along with this, I can't have you throwing yourself in harm's way, if a fight breaks out then you get the hell back and stay away from the action. This guy hasn't been proven to use humans in his chimeras but that doesn't mean that he doesn't do it, I don't want you turning into one of those, things." He clenched his fists as the memory of Nina from years ago popped into his mind. She had been so scared and lost, and in so much _pain._

"I get it." Emily's voice shook him from his reverie, "But you should know that I won't forgive you if you injure yourself to the point that I can't help you. Lose one organ and we are done you hear me?" she turned her head just enough for one silver eye to cut into him as she spoke.

"Fair enough, the same to you though." He answered as his eyes narrowed, "Equivalent Exchange." He added as he shoved his flesh hand out between them. She took it in her own and meant to use it to shake, instead he used the grip on her hand to pull her close to him once more and pressed his lips softly against her own, "A deal's a deal." He stated as he pulled away from her.

She looked down and covered her face with her free hand in an attempt to hide the rose colored stain that was spreading across her cheeks. He released her hand then and she stumbled back a couple steps as she attempted to regain her composure.

 _Why isn't he affected by this like I am?_

She glanced up at him in time to see him staring firmly at a vase on her uncle's bookcase, his tanned cheeks were a bit darker than the rest of his face causing her to smile as she looked over his features. Edward was hard as steel, but underneath he was soft as melted butter; always hiding it behind a turn of the head or a false anger that didn't reach his eyes. She let out a soft sigh as she looked down at his hands, they were clenched into fists, but lazily so, his curled fingers did not quite reach his palms and his thumbs were resting against his fingertips.

"Yeah a deal's a deal." She softly murmured as she turned towards Al once again, after giving the metal boy a gentle nod she made her way past him and out of the office. Edward turned and watched her go as his arms raised to cross themselves before his chest.

"She cares about us." Alphonse stated after she was long gone, "She said she loved us both brother." He turned his glowing eyes on his brother to see the blonde smiling softly.

"She sees us as a packaged pair, without you there's no me and vice versa." He stated as he turned to look fully at his younger brother, "She doesn't see us the way the others do Al, to her I'm just Edward, not the FullMetal Alchemist, and you are just Alphonse, not a suit of armor with a soul trapped in it."

"It's nice." Al stated as he leaned against the wall, "It makes me think we are almost normal."

"we are normal Al," Edward stated as he approached Alphonse and patted the metal of his chest plate, "We are as normal as we can be in this weird world."

Emily let out a tired sigh as she sat up against the side of the bookcase that she had been sitting next to. She had been up all night attempting to read as much as she could on arrays dealing with the human body, many of which lead to dead ends in the form of dark red REDACTED ink stamped across certain pages. She knew that there was little hope to find any useful information in the library that was open for civilians as well as Military officers. She should have known that they would toy with the City's population by tricking them into thinking they would find the information they were looking for, only to crash them with that damn stamp that stopped any research in its tracks.

"If dad's books weren't destroyed when the house collapsed I could have found it in them." She sighed as she rubbed the top of her head furiously. Her father had once owned a large collection of Alchemical journals pertaining to the human body. She only skimmed one or two of them when she had been growing up but she knew that he had a small amount that pertained to the recreation of human body parts. Of course he kept those under his nose every day, and well out of reach of her ever curious hands. He had been planning on recreating all of her mother's organs that were failing her and helping her live long into Emily's life.

"Little good that did them." She growled as she clenched her fist in her hair. Any time she thought of her parents she got a heavy feeling in her chest, pain mixed with anger boiled up from the pit of her stomach until she couldn't take it anymore and slammed her fist into the wall beside her.

"Touch-y." she frowned at the male voice which had drifted into her ears from behind where she sat.

"Oh yeah, Who the hell do you think-" she stopped when she turned to see Havoc waving his hands up in surrender.

"The Boss is rubbing off on you." He stated as he squatted down beside her and glanced at the book in her lap. His eyebrow raised as he turned to look at her face, "I do hope this isn't what I think it is." He stated with an authoritative voice that she had never heard from him before. She furrowed her brow as she lowered her arm from the wall and slowly closed the book in her lap.

"What do you mean Jean? I told you guys I wanted to finish my father's work, creating human organs from animals was flawed. I think that they would be more stable if I created them from scratch, you know, from the base elements that make them up." She did not look away from the book as she spoke, and ran her fingertips across its rough surface as her eyes closed against the sight of it.

"And here I was thinking something much more sinister. Maybe the Boss already warned you about it, that's good." He stated as he allowed himself to fall back to sit on his butt with his arms draped across his knees.

"What are you talking about smoke stack?" she asked as her face fell into an annoyed scowl.

"Hehe I guess not then. Well it's not my place to talk to you about it. I'm no alchemist after all." He stated as he stood and placed his hand against the spines of the books lined up on the shelves beside him. She watched him slowly slide his hand down and reach for a pack of cigarettes in his shirt pocket.

"You aren't allowed to smoke in here." She stated flatly. He jumped at her words and pulled his hand away from the pack that so enticed him.

"You're right, sorry." He stated as he rubbed the back of his neck and let out a soft chuckle.

"Why did you come here anyway?" she asked as she stood and returned the book to its shelf. He seemed full of nervous energy as he pondered her question.

"Well I'm just killing time before my date." He stated as he chuckled lightly.

"Oh? Did Mustang actually give one up to you?" she asked playfully as she turned to face him with a small smirk pulling one side of her lips up.

"Uh, no. As far as I know he doesn't know about her." Havoc lowered his arm as he mumbled the words. She smiled and patted the man's arm gently; she was short compared to everyone, even Edward's odd hair antenna stood a few inches above her head. She was used to it though, being small meant that she could slip by unnoticed by the people who towered over her. She liked the thought that she was still growing but she had a year tops before she would stop all together.

"Better keep her a secret then" she stated as her own private relationship came to mind, "Wouldn't want him nosing his way in and stealing her away would you?" she patted his arm once again as she smiled up at him, "Good luck Smokey." She added before turning away from him, "I should go, I am supposed to be getting ready for a mission."

"Yeah, I heard about it from Mustang, good luck to you as well." He stated as he gave her a thumbs up, she smiled at him over her shoulder and returned the thumbs up before looking away from him and letting her face fall into a frown.

 _Human Transmutation is a forbidden art, one that no one is allowed to even mention in the books beyond stating that it is taboo._ She sighed as she lowered her head to look at the ground as she made her way through the library's many bookshelves. She knew that she couldn't mention her research to anyone, but she had to find the philosophers stone and use it in order for it to work. The most that she had found out from her studies was that no one had attempted it with the fabled stone before. She clenched her fists as she approached the doors to the library, the stone could be the secret to returning her parents to her. They were killed by a monster before their time, as she thought this Envy's face popped into her mind causing her to stop in her tracks. Her lip quivered as she attempted to stop her teeth from chattering.

Envy had admitted their guilt that day when they showed up at her old home. The monster had smiled as the words left its mouth, Envy had been proud to be the murderer of her family. She clenched her fists as she continued to remember further and further back, he had been dressed in her uncles form when he captured her right? She thought frantically as her shoulders shook. All along she had been going after the wrong target, Lust was gone sure, but it had been Envy all along.

The sunlight outside of the library was blinding, causing her to raise her hand up to shield her eyes against it. It was beautiful day with birds chirping from their roosts along the building tops and the laughter of children drifting to her ears from someplace off to the right. A Beautiful day in Central City and Emily was not having it.

 _They could be out there, those three bastards who got away, Envy could be around the corner snickering about murdering my family in cold blood. Envy liked killing them, I will love killing him._

She gritted her teeth as she made her way to the clothing store that she could afford, living off of her Uncles inheritance was becoming harder and harder every day. When she had first received word of it she thought that she would be able to live comfortably for years on the money she was given, but now with her having to feed Edward and buying books after books on alchemy she was beginning to see the flow of money turning into a trickle. With the new mission she was being sent on she would have even less than before.

"Let's see; train tickets, food, drinks, a decent dress, maybe someone to do my hair…" she sighed as she hung her head in defeat. She would be broke after the dress more than likely. Roy had no idea how much stress he had put her under, even before the mission began.

"Emily?" she raised her head to look off to her left where Alphonse was fast approaching her, "What are you doing out here?" he asked as he came to a stop beside her.

"I told you guys I was getting ready for the mission." She stated around a yawn.

"That was yesterday, you didn't come home last night!" Al seemed more relieved than angry as he spoke.

"Was it really that long?" she asked as she rubbed her eyes, she had been so caught up in studying the alchemy books that the library had to offer that she must have been left in the building overnight. It wasn't surprising to her due to the remoteness of her favorite study area, but as she realized that she had not eaten or slept for well over twelve hours she also realized how tired and hungry that had made her.

"Where were you? Brother and I were worried!" he exclaimed.

"The library actually." She stated as she rubbed the back of her neck, "I guess I just lost track of time reading."

"You sound like brother." She could have sworn that Al was chuckling as he spoke.

"I guess so." She smiled gently and patted his metal arm just as she had patted Jean Havoc's flesh one. Her eyes moved from his metal face to the storefront that she had been considering for a few moments before he arrived, "I gotta go in there and see about a dress for the ball we are supposed to be infiltrating." She shrugged as she let her hand slide down his metal arm, "Tell Edward I'll be home soon okay?" she asked gently.

"I think that would be kinda redundant." She looked behind Al to see Edward leaning against the wall to the shop, "Now I don't know much about fancy dances or parties but don't you think a dress from this place would stand out a bit?" he asked as he kicked himself off the wall.

"Edward, I was-" he sentence was cut short as he pulled her into a tight hug. Her eyes quickly scanned around them for anyone who might notice before he pulled away from her and shrugged.

"I heard everything, I was standing behind Al the whole time." He explained as he released her. She let out a relieved sigh as she rubbed the spot behind her ear with her fingernail, "As for the dress," she raised her eyebrow before looking up into his eyes, "I think that we can arrange something better than this place, it does fall under the military's records after all, Mustang will have to get the money to pay for it, even if it's out of his own pocket because he is my senior officer." He held his hand out to her in an offer to hold her own. She shook her head at the offer before nodding to two officers at the end of the road, sitting and chatting at a café located there.

"I guess we should go talk to the Colonel about it then." She stated as she stepped past him and nodded towards the Central Command Building, "What are you waiting for?" she asked with a gentle smile.

(End of Chapter 4: Next chapter; the mission begins)


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5:

The dress was, uncomfortable. It was too tight around her middle and the ruffles along the top of her bodice caused her breast to look even larger than before. She was usually built very modestly and did not have many curves to speak of, the tightness of the corset she wore caused the area above her hips to constantly be sucked in and pushed the remaining girth that she had to spare upwards to push her small breast up and forward. She felt tiny compared to the woman standing beside her. Riza Hawkeye had been a big help in getting the contraption over her frame, but she was rough in doing it and Emily was sure she would have a few bruised ribs, among other body parts she did not feel like even thinking of.

"Why can't I just tuck a pistol between fake one and fake two?" she grumbled as she pressed the sides of her breasts inwards to create a larger amount of viewable cleavage.

"Holsters are the best way to go about carrying fire arms, if you are caught in a situation where physical exertion beyond the norm is required you could lose your weapon from in between your breasts and then you are as good as dead." Hawkeye stepped back and rested her chin against her thumb and forefinger as she studied the squirming girl.

"I don't understand why they have to be against my inner thighs." Emily grumbled as she turned to look at herself in the mirror. She was in a dark blue and silver dress that matched the First Lieutenant's uniform nearly perfectly. The bodice of the dress was decorated with silver ruffles along the top that wrapped around her shoulders and smaller silver ruffles running vertically down the middle, only about two inches apart from each other. The skirt puffed up before falling smoothly to the floor in a cascade of blue that reminded her of the waterfalls from her uncle's old paintings in her foyer, complete with a large ruffle of silver at its base. The ribbon that made up a belt around her middle was just as silver as the ruffles but shone against the light as it tightly wound around her body. There was a pretty big bow in the back but she could not see it the way she was standing, staring straight ahead into the large full-sized mirror.

"The boys won't know what hit them." Riza was uncharacteristically friendly as she looked over the girl before her with a proud smirk upon her lips. Emily felt herself blush at the woman's words as she turned her head to look out of the tiny grimy window to the large building where they would be attending the ball. She pressed one hand against her stomach as a sigh caused her to bend slightly forward.

"I don't think I'm ready for this." She complained with a soft groan, "I should have just stayed back at Central."

"Nonsense." She straightened herself and turned to see Roy entering the room with a casual smirk across his face, "You look all grown up Emily, beautiful." He stated as he moved to lightly tap her on the shoulder. She frowned and clenched her fists as he smiled down at her. Raising her nose in the air slightly she let out an irritated huff.

"Your petty attempts at flattery won't woo me Colonel," she stated as she tilted her head to the side to look up at him from a different angle, "I am spoken for." She added, knowing full well that Hawkeye had to realize her relationship with Edward on the train ride.

"Trust me, I'm not into kids." Roy chuckled causing her to pout as her cheeks flushed a darker shade of red. Her eyebrow twitched as she turned to face the window once again and crossed her arms before her chest. She couldn't get mad at him for thinking of her like a child when he was much older than her, but that didn't mean she didn't get severely pissed off at him for having the nerve to chalk her up with the likes of _kids_ when she obviously had not deserved that title for a long time.

"Thank goodness," she hissed around an evil smirk, "Wouldn't want some weird old man like you stalking kids would we?" there was a strangled 'urk' sound from behind her and a soft feminine chuckle that she knew came from none other than Riza Hawkeye. Her smirk widened into a full blown smile as she turned her silver eyes on the man. She stuck her tongue out and pulled down the bottom lid of her left eye with one finger in what she knew to be a very childish gesture. Roy seemed to regain his dignity enough to laugh heartily at her, bending at the middle and wrapping his arms around it as the chuckles rolled out of his throat from the bottom of his gut. The sudden laughter caused her to frown again, and rather than continue the conversation she decided to sit down on the bed that she had been so generously offered just a few hours before and start a new one, one that may help her out quite a bit.

"So if this is a mission for Ed and Alphonse and I, why are the two of you here in East City?" she asked as she crossed her legs at the knee and rested her head on her fist while the elbow of that arm rested against the table. She was ready for the mission when they left the Central Train station three days before, she had waited patiently in the seat beside a sleeping Edward while she conversed with Alphonse who never slept; she wasn't used to train rides so they filled her with a nervous energy that wouldn't allow her to sleep at all. She was really surprised to see the Colonel and First Lieutenant stepping off the train from the car ahead of them when they had finally arrived at the smaller station. It hadn't taken them long to usher the three teens towards a hotel nearby the Eastern Command building and force them into two separate rooms. Then suddenly she was being stripped and dressed in clothes that felt more like a vice grip than fabric. There was no time to ask questions, not until she managed to get both of them in her hotel room without the brothers there to try to defend her against them. She loved them both but their over eagerness to protect her from anyone and anything sometimes got in the way when trying to get answers from the military officials that always seemed to be around them.

"That is need to know information." Roy stated flatly.

"And I don't need to know," she prompted.

"Exactly." He answered simply.

"Bullshit." She stated as she raised her head from her fist and sighed, "You aren't going to help us if you are acting as babysitters you know. We need to do this on our own. You can't keep treating Edward and Alphonse, let alone me, Like children the rest of our lives. So what we are younger, but we are growing up." She forced her voice to remain firm and even as she stared down the high ranking officer. She had no need to follow his orders without question; after all she was not in the military, not yet.

"That was very well said." She looked past Roy to see Edward standing in the doorway and leaning against the frame. He was wearing the same suit he had worn to Jericho's Wedding, with an addition to a short top hat firmly panted atop his bright blonde locks. He looked so mature while he smiled at her from across the room; his hair was pulled into a ponytail instead of a braid again, that seemed to be his go to look for anything other than a casual outing. She smiled a small shy smile as she looked down to hide yet another blush, she did not know why she was suddenly so shy towards the guy who was supposed to be her boyfriend but she couldn't make herself raise her head to meet his eyes.

"I see you're rearing to go FullMetal, that's a good sign." Mustang smirked at Edward as he spoke. He held an air of confidence that Emily had not seen any other human being hold.

"You want to tell me everything that's going to happen before hand Colonel? You do always seem to know." Ed grumbled as he pushed himself off the frame of the door. Roy sighed as he raised his hands in a surrendering pose.

"Honestly, why does everyone think I know everything about everything? Come on Ed I am only a man after all." He stated in a dismissive tone. Emily cut her eyes at Riza as he spoke but the woman gave nothing away as she stared blankly yet firmly at her commanding officer. She knew she would get nothing from the older woman and resigned herself to a dismayed hanging of her head. Edward seemed to take that as his cue to approach her and did so at a slow gait, sizing her new look up as he did so. Her long black hair, which usually hung loose around her shoulders in dark rippling waves, was tied into a tight braided bun with braided designs of stars circling her scalp around it. Big silver eyes were accented with deep black eyeliner and the perfect shade of blue eyeshadow that matched her dress and sparkled in the light whenever her eyes closed. Her lips were painted a light shade of red and her cheeks were artificially flushed a light pink, which matched well with the natural blush that danced across her features.

"You uh," he wiped his hand across his nose and looked down just as shyly as she had, "You look nice, really nice." He managed to get out as his cheeks burned.

"Thanks." She said softly causing him to cover half his face with a gloved hand in order to hid the deepening red of his cheeks.

"Yeah, no problem." He cracked a small smile as his leg moved nearer to her own.

"Okay children, we need to get serious here." Roy grumbled as he turned to face them, "This is basic infiltration, but considering this is something Emily has never done and Ed does not excel at we have arranged to have the two of you enter with separate escorts." As Edward made a move to protest Mustang held up one hand to silence him, "You both have separate missions that coincide with one another on this, understand FullMetal?" he asked flatly.

"Yes sir." Ed stated after a firm glare from Hawkeye. Emily furrowed her brow as Ed clenched his fists beside her and lowered his head in defeat. She knew he was afraid of the First Lieutenant, everyone was, but she never knew that he was sacred of her to the point of being obedient, so unlike himself. She bit the inside of her cheek as she looked to the floor, unsure of where else she could look.

"Now the two of you will have to split up from this point on, you will each be briefed on your mission and sent in at staggered times, you must not seem overly friendly at the party, speak to each other like strangers who have just met." Roy demanded as he rested his hands on his hips, "I do not want you two socializing in there or being drawn into whatever fantasy that place can put into your minds. Get in, get the job done, and get out." As he stated the last sentence he pointed between the two of them.

"What about Al?" Edward demanded as he glared up at Roy.

"He is too big to sneak into the party and considering he is a suit of armor I think he would be noticed right away." Roy stated as he rested one white glove covered finger against his chin, "No, Alphonse will have to stay back here with us and held shift through the intelligence we have received so far. There is quite a lot of it." As the Colonel spoke Alphonse seemed almost giddy, bouncing slightly on his metal feet and causing a loud squealing rhythm to echo through the room.

"It's okay brother, I think I should stay here, after all I would be a lot more help here with the intelligence than out there. I don't even have a suit." Emily had to hold back a chuckle as she imagined Alphonse in a suit, and wondered how he would manage to get the shoulders over his spikes.

"Should we go?" Emily asked as faint music from the Eastern Command Center drifted through the slightly opened window. Roy nodded and led Edward out of the room as he called over his shoulder that Riza should debrief Emily on her mission and that Emily better be damned sure that she kept the information to herself and followed along with the plan no matter how much she might not like it. The mention that she was no FullMetal got an angered exclamation from the actual FullMetal just before the door to her room slammed shut behind them.

Riza sighed softly and shook her head at the closed door before turning to face Emily. The woman's face softened as she looked down at the girl who stood nearby the window looking so much like a caged animal. She let a soft smile cross her lips as she made her way to the table by the gaudy hotel room bed and lifted a few sheets of paper she had never seen before off of its darkly painted surface.

"Miss Hawkeye?" she turned to see Emily looking out of the window with a concerned frown pulling her lips towards the sides of her jawline, "I've never actually been out in the field before, and I'm," she looked down sadly rather than looking the blonde woman in her hazel eyes, "I'm terrified." She stated softly.

"The first time is always the hardest." Riza stated as she looked down at the papers, "Just remember and follow the plan and you will be fine, this is a simple information gathering mission."

"I've seen Ed and Al return from these kinds of missions with limbs missing." Emily stated with a frown. It was true that the boys never seem to come out of a mission unscathed but she was hoping that the newest recruit to Roy's ranks would not be like them. She cast one last look over the papers before glancing out of the window to the building that housed the ball, they were sending in children to the lion's den, children whose eyes had already lost the light of youth through so many trails and losses.

"Let's hope that Edward will behave rationally tonight." She stated as she sat down on the foot of the bed, still with perfect posture that she gained from a life in the military, her hand holding the papers waved through the air as she began to follow her orders and debriefed Emily with the same stern voice that she used every day against the others when they weren't exactly doing their jobs.

"At 2000 hours you will enter the front doors of the Eastern Command Center on the arm of one Lieutenant John Friedman. He is a military officer who has been working closely with us so he has naturally agreed to get you in but that is it. Once inside he will separate from you to join his wife at the ball, you will not go that far." She glanced up at the girl who had not looked away from the window as she spoke. Emily's fists were clenched; she was showing her concentration through that action and the deeply furrowed brow that adorned her head, "Once in the main building you will find any way you can to get up to the upper floors. There is an office there that is under the control of one General Grumman, he is an old chess buddy of Mustangs and my Grandfather. Due to these connections he agreed to gather the information that was available at the Eastern Command Center on the stone. He agreed to gather it but even Roy knows it would be foolish to allow him to be implicated in our plans. The door should be left unlocked but if it is not you will have to find your own way in. Once you are in, get the papers and get out. We will meet at my old apartment, that is where Ed comes in, he knows his way around this city and since this is your first time out of Central you will need him to show you the way. You will have to meet up with him in the Ballroom at 2100 hours at the least, of course it would be best to meet up with him before 2030 hours but since this is your first mission we have estimated some spare time for you into the plan." Emily nodded before turning to face Riza who had finished with her debriefing and was returning the papers to their original folded position.

"What, what is Edwards mission?" Emily asked as she looked up at the blonde woman before her slowly. Riza did not answer her vocally, choosing instead to shake her head slowly as she slipped the papers in the front pocket of her dark blue uniform pants. Emily looked down as she allowed her eye lids to slip closed, "Yeah, I guess if I could know that then there would be no reason to separate us right now huh?" she sighed as she looked up to Riza Hawkeye's face once more. The woman gave her a gentle nod before standing and turning towards the door.

"It's 1945 hours right now. We have to hurry in order to keep on schedule." She stated flatly without looking back at Emily.

Emily followed the First Lieutenant out of the room and down the hallway to where a tall gray haired man stood dressed to the nines beside a stone faced Roy and a disgruntled looking Edward. She watched as Riza saluted the man, then Roy, and turned to introduce her to the stranger.

"This is Miss Emily Hagraven, Louis's Daughter." When Riza said her father's name she looked up quickly, her eyes wide and searching. The man was familiar looking to her when she had first set eyes on him and now she knew why, he was one of the ones in her parents photo album who was helping her father research a way to cure her mother, "Emily, this is Lieutenant John Friedman, he will be your escort this evening."

"Well hello again little Emily," The man leaned forward to take her hand in his own and gave it a firm shake, "It's so good to see you again. I knew you back when you were just learning to walk, you were such a sweet little thing back then." He gave her a gentle smile that caused her to feel like she was a child again, searching for an adults attention. She returned his smile as he released her hand and looked down to the large skirt that puffed out from her dress.

"It's nice to see you again as well sir." She mumbled before looking towards Edward who seemed to have calmed down enough to stare at her in confusion, she saw this and felt a bit of pity to him for being out of the loop in this situation so she decided to add something that might help him out, "I didn't see you at my parents funeral."

"Unfortunately I was on assignment at the time." The man stated as he held his arm out to her, it was crooked at the elbow in the way her father had always held his when her mother was being escorted by him. She took his arm with a small glance to Edward who was finding a sign by the Hotel far more interesting than what she was doing at that moment. Her eyebrows raised slightly as she allowed herself to be turned away from Edward.

The large doors to the Eastern Command Center were wide open with two guards on either side of them welcoming people inside. As she was led forward she noticed that the party hopefuls who had been turned away were standing in lines on either side of the building, some cast glares in her direction as she stepped up the large steps to the doors that seemed more like a giant mouth waiting to swallow her up. The feeling caused her hand to shake and she felt his own lay over hers in return. The large hand completely covered hers as he gave her a gentle squeeze, the simple acted calmed her nerves and allowed her to look forward once again. As they stepped up to one of the guards John removed a slip of paper from his breast pocket and passed it over with a bored expression.

"Your wife arrived with your son a short while ago." The guard informed him, "This must be your daughter." He added as he gave her a trained smile.

"Thank you for the information, we will surely find them inside." She looked up at John as he spoke, and then allowed herself to be led through the doors. She would help the brothers find what they needed; she would do her part all the way up until they got their bodies back. The day she knew that they could use it to recreate their bodies she would get it and recreate her parents. Her hand clenched against his sleeve as she thought over her own private plan. Her lips jerked up in a half smile as well when she imagined her parents and herself lovingly embracing once again, a broken family made whole.

"Do you know where to go?" her escort whispered as they neared the hallway that lead off to the stairs. She nodded silently as she turned her head in the direction she needed to go.

"Then this is where I leave you. Good luck little Emily, and tell Roy I can't afford to help him this way again." He stated as he released her hand and moved forward, towards the large reception hall that was playing the part of the ballroom that evening. She watched his suits back seam bounce and sway as he walked and wondered briefly just what Roy held over the man to make him risk his rank to help her out on this mission. She breathed in deeply, filling her lungs as much as the corset would allow, before letting it out in a slow exhale. Her eyes turned towards the hallway she was meant to go down before her body joined them.

"Okay," she whispered as she clenched her fists around her skirt, "I'm ready." She pulled the front of her skirt up and took off running down the hallway as fast as she could, not looking back. If she had turned to look behind her she would have seen Edward stepping into the building and smiling softly at her retreating back.

(End of Chapter 5: Chapter 6 will have a bit of, heavy petting, but you will have to read it to find out what kind and who will be preforming and receiving it)


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6:

Emily rushed down the hall at full tilt until her right heel decided it wanted to succeed from her shoe and did so with a loud snapping noise. It sent her one a downward arch straight to the floor. Her chin hit hard against the tiles that lined the hall and split open automatically, sending a spray of blood out a few inches from her face. She pushed herself up onto one elbow and gently touched her cut only to hiss in pain as a sharp stinging feeling circled where the skin made contact.

"Shit oww," she whispered as she pushed herself up fully and reached down to test her heel. The hard heel was barely hanging off of her shoe with the help of a small strip of leather. She snarled as she thought of her luck and snapped the heel off of her shoe with a quick jerking motion. She looked down at the remaining heel with a frown and quickly slammed her ankle down against the floor with her toes pointed up at an angle that would allow the downward thrust of her foot to catch and snap the heel off from the back. It took three tries but finally she heard the loud snap and felt the give of the heel as it to popped off but for a small flap of leather. She ripped it away as well and looked around for a place to hide it from anyone who might happen down the hallway. A potted plant sitting beside a large window caught her eye and she heaved a heavy sigh.

"If Edward was here then I could just ask him to alchemize them back together or Alphonse for that matter." She mumbled as she stuffed them down in the soil between the large leaves of the plant. After she had moved the plant in such a way as to hide the now half buried heels she turned and looked down the hall where the sounds from the party were coming from. Her lips were pressed thinly together as she wondered once again what Edwards part was exactly in the whole scheme of the mission. She shook her head to clear it and looked down the other side of the hall where the stairs were barely visible around the corner, "Focus Em." She whispered as she pulled her skirt up once again and ran awkwardly towards the stairwell.

She hit the stairs and took them two at a time, not knowing how much time she lost with falling and having to fix her shoes. Her breath came out in quick short pants as she made her way up to the third floor as quickly as she could. She stopped there for a moment and held her chest as she attempted to slow her breathing and control it. Her heart was racing and her chest hurt from all that she had endured to make it as far as she had running full sprint. She leaned against the wall and looked down at the line of doors that lined the hall beyond where she stood. It was eerily quiet there, no sounds from the party below made it to her ears and there was no one else in the hall either, the ambiance caused by this made her feel as if she was in a haunted house. The long line of doors going off into the darkness made her feel as if it were never ending.

"Keep it under control." She hissed softly to herself as she turned towards Grummans office. She pushed herself from the wall and stumbled to his office door. With how her luck was turning out that night she expected it too easily. Her chin hit the ground again but this time she had flung one hand down to catch her fall before it had a chance to break back open, it still hurt like hell but she had to keep moving. The room was dark but a large window behind Grumman's desk lit the room with the rays of the crescent moon that rested in its top left corner. She felt her way around in the darkened areas of the room until she reached the edge of the beam of light coming in from the window. A movement in the darkness caused her to pull to a sudden halting stop right as her fingertips brushed through the soft white light.

"Who's there?" she asked in a harsh whisper as her eyes darted back and forth, searching for another sign of movement. The room was deathly quiet and still, the only signs of life coming from her own body. This ambiance gave her a sickening feeling in her stomach; after living so long running away from them, Emily knew somewhat how to sense a Homunculus. They left behind a feeling that caused her stomach to turn, one that she could never quite put a name to. She crossed her arms over her stomach and allowed herself to shiver against the strange sensation.

"I know you're there in the shadows somewhere." She growled as she panted around the feeling. Her stomach churned as the urge to vomit struck her, "Come out of there you bastard." She ordered softly into the quiet room. Whisper like laughter and quick scuttling movements surrounded her causing her to back up against the large desk and squint as she attempted to see through the wall of darkness that surrounded her now. More of the whispering laughter swirled around her like an invisible tornado that sent her hairs on end.

"Dammit quit playing with me you fucking asshole!" she shouted before clamping her hand over her mouth and looking quickly towards the open door. A quick flash of movement and another round of laughter assaulted her just before the door slowly closed cutting off what little light that the abandoned hallway gave the room. She felt her eyes widen as she turned a full circle too look around her. She moved to turn another circle but stopped halfway when a flash of yellow from behind the chair back, which was now facing her, caught her eye. She saw the thick strand of hair that poked up straight into the air twitch before the flash of an automail hand resting on the chair arm and catching the moonlight drew her attention.

"Edward?" she asked softly as she reached towards the chair.

"Sorry toots." She gasped as the figure seemed to ripple and sway as it turned to look at her over the top of the chair; it wasn't Edward, but Roy's face who smirked at her from the beings sitting position, "Care to make another guess?"

"You're a Homunculus." she stated around a growl. The figure before her warped into Riza as it stood and gave her a playful salute.

"Correct!" The being who wore Riza Hawkeyes image smirked at her before transforming into the man that she knew as Hoenhime. The man walked forward as the smile on his face grew, he stepped up onto Grummans desk and continued walking forward until he stood over her. She backed away as he leaned forward to smile down at her mischievously, "Wanna guess which one?" he asked as he did so, "It's been a while and you lost a lot of blood when we met huh." She shook her head and chose to stare at the corner of the old man's desk rather than at the beings stolen face.

"You, you're Envy." She stated as she clenched her fists, her glove was back at the hotel room where she had left her bags. She hadn't thought to bring it with her due to the mission supposedly being a simple in and out one. Now she stood before her next target as it smiled down at her hungrily and felt so hopeless without it. she dodged out of the way as her reached for her face but it was like he was a cat toying with a flightless baby bird before it decides to devour it.

"No use trying to run or scream," Envy stated as he frowned at her from atop the desk, "That big party is doing a good job of covering up whatever sound we make." It had shifted again, into the form of the green haired thing that she had first seen it in. it chuckled as it kicked its feet idly after sitting down at the edge of the desk. She frowned as she turned to the desk that the papers were said to be on.

"I am not running, or screaming." She stated as she slid past him to stand before the window, "I just want these papers, I am no use to you monsters now so just leave me the hell alone." She stated as she attempted to snatch up the papers and slide past him, as soon as her fingers wrapped around the papers however, his fingers wrapped around her wrist.

"You seem like you would be a lot of fun." He stated as he lifted her by the wrist with strength she did not think anyone could possess, she was just a rag doll in his grip and could do nothing about it. She kicked and pushed against his fingers, clawing at them with her free hand, but it was all in vain. The Homunculus simply chuckled and shook her roughly, squeezing her wrist until she felt as if her hand itself was about to pop off of her arm. He flicked his wrist as he released hers from his grip and she was sent flying to land roughly against the long table before Grummans desk. She winced as she pushed against the desk weakly In an attempt to get up, Envy leapt from the desk and landed with his knees on either side of her waist. His hands landed beside her ears against the redwood that the desk was made up of.

"I think you would make a great toy." Envy hissed as his tongue rolled out to run along the side of her jaw, "You taste like a tender little morsel, you haven't even reached maturity yet have you?" he laughed as he pulled her hands up to hold them above her head, making sure to do it in such a way as to stop her from pressing her palms together. He had dealt far too much with a certain blonde alchemist to trust that he would be safe any other way. She jerked under him, trying to free herself from his grasp as she cried out her anger and hatred.

"Hey calm down." Envy demanded as he pressed one hand against her neck, "It's hard to focus on toying with you when your squirming so much." She coughed and wheezed as her air supply was cut off suddenly. His fingers clasped around her throat tighter as he smiled down at her like manically.

"Let, Me, Go." She wheezed as she kicked her legs up and brought them down quickly on his shins. He called out before looking down on her quickly as his smile returned.

"That might of hurt, if you kept your heels on you." He chuckled as his hand that gripped her wrists squeezed even tighter. She jerked against him once again as the tips of her fingers began to feel tingly and hot on top of the resounding pain that covered both her hands. He removed his hand from her throat giving her a split second to take in a shallow breath that stung her throat and chest before he slammed one fist into her side hard enough to cause her to nearly double over in pain. She would have gladly curled into a ball if she could but the way that the monster held her down stopped her from doing much more than her pain aided jerks and twitches.

"You sure aren't fighting back much." Envy's nose curled up on one side as he snarled down at her before grabbing onto her shoulder to force her to lie down straight, "What the matter, you weren't like this against Lust." He leaned his face close to her own as he spoke, "I thought you were supposed to be the great Homunculi killer." it was stated with a hiss. She turned her face away from his as the side of her head was covered in cold saliva.

"Let me go and I'll show you Homunculi killer." She threatened only to wince as he lifted himself up and jabbed one knee between her legs quickly. Pain shot up from her pelvic bone as his knee slammed into it, her body convulsed as the wave of pain and an odd sensation rocked through it.

"Oh, I found a soft spot hmm." Envy smirked as he drew back his knee and slammed it into her throbbing crotch once again. She could feel her bone crack open right at the center of the base of her pelvis. She coughed as his hand squeezed her neck and let a slow groan escape her mouth after her body calmed down. His hand moved from her throat to clamp down on her thigh as she struggled to block him from her center.

His knee slammed into her thigh, bruising and pinching the skin between it and the hard wood of the table. She twisted her arms and her free leg in an attempt to get free, but all she managed to do was kicking him in the calf with her automail foot. He hissed and slammed his other knee down on her upper thigh of her right leg.

"Now you calm the fuck down little worm." He snapped at her as he snarled, showing off his rows of razor sharp teeth. She pressed the back of her head against the table in an attempt to get as far away from those teeth as possible. Suddenly a soft clanking noise of her two pistols hitting against the table as he shifted between her legs caused her blood to run cold.

"Oh ho, what is this?" Envy snarled as he let a chuckle escape his throat.

 _Oh no, oh God no._

She tried to squeeze her legs together to hide the guns as he slowly slid his hand along her thigh to the inside. His fingers gripped the fabric of her skirt and there was a loud ripping sound filling the room as he pulled the fabric in his hand away from the seam of her bodice. Her eyes widened as she looked down the small area between them to watch the skirt fall away and rest against her upper thighs.

"Envy, its Envy right, Come on Envy you don't want to do this right? I'm useless to you now because I can do Alchemy so it's not like you doing anything to me will grant you good favor with whoever you work for anyway." Her voice broke as she begged him while holding back the tears that where filling the orbs of her eyes, stinging the edges as they threatened to over flow. Envy did not seem impressed by her pitiful display as he shifted above her to pull the remnants of her skirt down even further to reveal her holsters that Riza so carefully hid from view behind its large folds.

"What is this? Trying to hide a surprise for me hmm?" Envy smiled wildly as he reached up to the lining of her panties to unsnap the right holster. His hand brushed against her bruised and throbbing center. She let out a pained surprised sound that was somewhere between a moan and a squeak, this seemed to intrigue Envy who raised one eyebrow along with one side of his mouth and flicked the area hard enough to make her jump, "Humans are so idiotic, giving away their weaknesses so easily." He stated as he slammed his fist against it.

"No!" she cried out as she thrashed against him, freeing her left arm in the process and slamming it into his chest, "Get the hell off me!" she ordered as she pushed against him as hard as she could. She managed to startle him enough to free her other hand and pushed it against his face. He pushed his face against her palm and lashed out with his teeth, tearing a strip of flesh away from her hand and causing her to scream in pain. He laughed as she ripped her hand away from him and grabbed her wrist with her other hand, squeezing the already bruised flesh tightly in hopes of slowing the bleeding.

"You bastard!" She screamed as she slammed her forehead against his chin, feeling his jaw give slightly before his fingers were around her throat again, this time accompanied by a cold metal ring pressed into her temple. She felt herself being forced back against the table as the Homunculus above her smirked while his eyes flashed with an evil gleam.

"This won't hurt me in the least." He stated as the metallic pop beside her ear let her know he had cocked the gun, "but you, oh it will REALLY hurt you." He laughed loudly as his fingers tightened around her throat. She closed her eyes as the metal of the gun was pressed roughly into her tender flesh and squeezed her wrist even tighter as she felt the warm blood flowing over her fingers.

 _Please God please don't let me die like this. EDWARD!_

There was another loud pop sound, this time coming from behind her head where the office door was located, and a bright flash of blue light. Something very large was flung into Envy that sent both him and the thing flying back to crash into Grummans desk. She sat up quickly and backed away using her good hand and her legs to push her backwards along the desktop. She did not stop at the other end of the desk; instead she fell backwards onto the floor and winced at the pain that exploded across her shoulder. When she could stand to open her yes once again she peeked out through slits that her lids created and looked above her head to see Edward standing in the doorway, his suit was ripped in a few places and he was clearly out of breath.

"You, Were, Late." He panted as he turned his bright gold orbs onto her face.

"Sorry, I didn't exactly keep up with my timeframe." She smirked up at him as she stood on shaky legs and carefully made her way over to stand beside him, "As you can see I was sort of tied up." She added as she pointed over her shoulder to where Envy was untangling himself from Gluttony with quite a bit of arguing between the two. Ed placed his hand on her shoulder and rubbed it slowly in circles as he stared the two Homunculi down with narrowed eyes.

"That looked painful." He stated as he lowered his hand.

"You weren't here for the worst part." She stated as her eyes scanned the room for the lost documents, "I had the papers, but I don't know where they went." She stated as she looked back at Edwards face.

"Right now I think we have bigger problems." He stated as he watched the two before them separate and turn towards them. Gluttony stuck one large pudgy finger in his mouth and gave it a disgusting suck as Envy glared at them with a feral snarl pulling up the side of his lips and nose. Emily shifted as the section between her legs throbbed painfully. She felt herself being pulled backwards as Edward moved her to stand behind him.

"Ed he has one of my guns." She stated as she clutched the back of his suit jacket. He nodded causing his ponytail to jump and brush against her cheek as he did so.

"I think you better stay back Emily." As he spoke he clapped his hands together and pressed one against the side of her ripped skirt. A shiver ran down her spine as she felt his hand slide away from her hip before the skirt began to seal itself back against her bodice.

"Thank you Ed." She whispered as she turned to move down the hallway.

"We will talk about what happened later." She heard him state just before a loud clap echoed in her ears, letting her know that he had once again readied himself to preform alchemy.

(End of Chapter 6: Please remember to post a review if there is anything you would like me to add in the future!)


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7:

Edward was all movement and skin to metal contact. She watched from her spot of safety that he had deemed appropriate with a nod of his head as he ducked and dodged the two Homunculi before him. He would clap his hands together and for a split second appeared to be praying when his eyes closed as well. She watched in awe as he produced creation after creation, each designed to attack the beasts before him while dodging the bullets that rained down from where Envy would land. One bullet bounced off his automail arm, the sharp metallic clang it caused made Emily wince at the thought. At least it was just his automail, at least he was still okay, and Edward did not stop at alchemy to dodge or attack. He moved fluidly through the air, twisting and arching his body in ways that other men would deem impossible as her eyes devoured his every movement. Gluttony was on him at one point, then it wasn't and he was spinning through the air midway through a kick and seeming to float there with his long hair being whipped before his face and his bright golden eyes narrow and cold after sending the large thing flying. He landed quickly sure but in her mind he had been frozen in that moment of a half kick, his body bending in such a way that she thought surely it must be the work of some God, any God. Envy was on him after the oaf Gluttony had been flung away and Edward was grabbing the beast by the hair on its scalp and stabbing it quickly with the blade he so loved to alchemize onto his prosthetic appendage. She watched the metal enter and exit the things stomach as he quickly listed off a series of names to its snarling face; the shiny metal, lit by the ever sinking moon, would enter the thing as each name was called.

"And this is for whatever the hell you did to Emily!" he shouted as he slammed the blade, and shortly after his fist, into the things face. The force of the blow, so close to where he had gripped the thing in the first place, sent them flying apart. Edward landed on his feet nearby the door, cutting a large gash in the hardwood floor as he placed his hands on it to steady himself. Envy was not as bad off as Edward, by twisting his body around he managed to turn his mad flying into a perfect flip that soon had him land upon the shoulders of his gluttonous companion.

"That's a whole lot of anger trapped inside one little pipsqueak." Envy spat as he rubbed his cheek that was already healing.

"Ten." Edward snarled as he returned his arm to normal.

"What?" The Homunculus seemed just as confused as she was.

"That is ten times that you have called me pipsqueak to my face." He growled the words as he spoke, causing his voice to take on a strange animalistic tone. He clapped his hands together loudly and slammed them down upon the ground causing a large fist to appear and move so quickly towards the two that the force of it sent them flying through the window behind them. He stood and straightened himself out with some quick alchemy that put his ripped clothes back in order before turning and spitting his angry words at the window, "Who's the pipsqueak now?" he sneered as he looked away from the window and then frowned as his eyes took in the room. He let his mouth fall open before quickly shutting it once again and gave his hands a final resounding clap, as they touched the floor between his feet the room filled with a bright white light that allowed her to clearly see the broken furniture shifting and swaying as it rebuilt itself. The window was remade, but the remaining wood and glass shards had to be spread thin to do so and he was sure that the next person in the room would know right away that its design did not match that of the other windows in the other offices that lined the hall. With his work done he allowed a tired sigh to escape his lips and rubbed the sweat from his forehead with one gloved hand.

"Edward?" she asked but stopped in her line of questioning when he turned to her and gave her the sweetest smile he had ever given her before. If her legs weren't weak from her broken pelvis they certainly were now, and decided to prove it by crumpling beneath her, sending her sprawling to the floor as he rushed to catch her.

"Are you okay?" he asked as he grabbed her shoulders to stop her from hitting the ground once again with her chin. She shook her head and grabbed the front of his shirt for support as she attempted not to sit directly on her pelvis.

"I may have a few broken bones." She stated as she allowed him to lift her up into his arms carefully. He adjusted her in his arms slowly and turned to the rom once again.

"You said there were some papers you were after." He stated as he looked down at her face which was pressed against his chest.

"Yeah, they were on the desk." She stated as she moved her free arm to point towards the desk she was speaking of. Her right arm was pressed against his chest and that made it difficult to move. She groaned as he shifted her in his arms and stepped back into the room. He made his way carefully across the floor, being sure to avoid the table and chairs so that she could be as comfortable as possible in her condition. It was a slow journey and took him close to five minutes to make it to the large desk due to his constantly having to stop in order to readjust her.

"Just put me down." She complained softly as they made it to the edge of Grummans desk. He complied with an aggravated mumble that she couldn't quite make out. She moved slowly and winced with every step she took as she made her way to the desk and gathered the scattered papers as quickly as she could while biting the inside of her mouth to hold back the cries of pain from her aching parts. She turned to him and handed him the papers before grabbing a fountain pen from the desk.

"Turn around." She stated through gritted teeth.

"What?" he asked as a look of shocked confusion settled on his face.

"Turn around Ed, my pelvis is broken and I have to mend the bone before I make it any worse." She explained as she began to lift her skirt. He blushed lightly as a frown crossed his lips, but he complied with her wishes and turned his back to her while she bundled her skirt up in her hands and pulled her panties down just far enough to draw her healing bones array on the skin above her privates. She winced as the tip of the pen cut into her skin at the bottom of the circle but finished it none the less and placed her fingertips to it after returning the pen to its holder. A flash of green/white light lit the room for a second and she cried out in pain as her bones melded themselves together once again, "Okay," she panted as she returned her clothes to the way they were before, "Gotta figure out a way to make that less painful." She finished her thought as she turned to tap Edward on the shoulder, "I'm done."

"He broke you pelvis- we are definitely having a talk later. Can you walk?" he grabbed her hand as he stuttered the words.

"yeah, I can walk." She squeezed his hand as she took a cautious step forward, "Let's just get the hell out of here please." She demanded softly as she took another step, pulling on his arm as she moved past him.

"Yeah." He muttered as he looked back to the window while allowing her to lead him out of the room.

Roy was very angry at them when they finally came through the door to the hotel. He had been waiting in the lobby and grunted as he looked down at the two teens who had stumbled in, out of breath and holding on to each other for support. Emily's pelvis was no longer broken, but still bruised and sore, sending waves of pain up her abdomen and down to her knees with each step.

"You two seem to like to take your dear sweet time." He said sarcastically as he crossed his arms.

"Shut the hell up." Edward ordered as he adjusted Emily on his shoulder, "There was a Homunculi problem waiting for us and Emily was hurt by one of them pretty badly." He turned to her as he spoke her name, "I think you should lay down after we get to the room." He urged her gently as he furrowed his brow in concern.

"Yeah, I think your right." She stated with a sigh as she pulled the papers out of his hand and held them out to Roy, "One stack of information just what you ordered." She chuckled at her attempted joke as he took the papers and motioned to the stairwell leading up to the rooms.

"Come on." Roy commanded the two before turning and leading them through the lobby to the stairs. They walked as a group to the second floor and down the hall to where their room doors were both hanging open. Roy motioned to the first room, the one Emily had gotten ready in, and Ed helped her inside and onto the bed. Pillows where stuffed behind her back by Alphonse so that she could still be in a somewhat sitting position after Edwards quick explanation of what had happened to her. The five of them settled into their spots around the room as Roy riffled through the papers with Riza.

"Says here there is a city under Central," Roy's brow furrowed as he read the papers carefully.

"A city under central," Edward sat up a bit straighter as he asked the question, "Could that be the lost civilization I read about?"

"It's a possibility." Roy passed the blonde alchemist the papers as he spoke, "I think you should look over these with your brother."

-Four days later, in Central-

Maes Hughes slammed the phone back into the receiver and frowned as he turned his head slightly to look over his shoulder. The woman standing behind him looked like Maria Ross, but not quite. There was something off about her that caused a sense of dread and anger to boil through his veins.

"Who the hell are you?" he asked as he turned to face her.

"I don't know what you mean sir." She stated as she looked blankly back at him.

"Maria Ross has a mole under her left eye." Maes stated as he reached for his gun.

"Oh that's right!" the thing pretending to be Maria Ross smiled as they tapped the spot below their cheek, a mole appeared when their finger was pulled away, "Sometimes I forget the little details." Maes felt his eyes widen as the thing smirked at him and pointed the gun in his direction.

What came to follow was an all too quick conversation between the two of them that ended with the thing taking on the form of Gracia. He faltered as he looked into the eyes of his wife, unable to pull the trigger even though in the back of his mind a voice was screaming that it wasn't her. There was a loud bang and a flash of light just before a searing pain rushed through his chest. The pain did not last long though, and as he found his mind giving into the darkness he could only think of his loving wife and daughter, forever out of his reach now that he was destined to leave them behind and go off to the next world alone.

Roy would not allow Emily to stay with the boys in East City in the end. He had been firm in his reasoning that she needed to return home and see the doctors in Central so that she could rest and heal in a familiar environment. Edward had yet to have his talk with her about what had happened before he arrived in the office days before and for that she was more than grateful to follow the Colonel back to her home city. She had not worked out for herself what was happening to her and how she felt now about the strange feelings that the beast Envy had caused in her when he was slowly putting her through torture. So after a lot of fuss from both the brothers where they complained about her safety and basically threatened the Colonels life if she was hurt while in his care, she found herself exiting the train back into the middle of Central City feeling somewhat relieved that there was a two days journey between her and the Elrics.

That sense of relief was soon followed by a sense of overwhelming sadness as she found herself standing before the Brigadier General Hughes grave just a day later. She clenched her jaw as her brow furrowed while she fought back tears as she listened to his young daughter cry out for the ones filling in his grave to stop. She could feel the sting of the tears on her eyes as the young girl screamed to her mother that her daddy had important work to do and he couldn't get to work when he woke up if they kept putting the dirt on him. She found herself looking up to the Fuhrer who stood directly across the grave from Roy and herself, his hands were shaking as he clutched onto the end of his sword handle like it was a cane to support him.

 _The world is crying for you Mr. Hughes. Your life touched so many._ She thought to herself as the preacher continued his speech. The funeral ended and she was whisked back to her home by Breda and Havoc who both where deathly quiet on the car ride to her street. Breda's massive back shook from his held back sobs; she could see this clearly from where she sat behind him on the passenger side of the back seat. Her eyes watered as she clenched her fists on her lap as she turned to look out of the window beside her. She had not known Hughes as well as the others so in her mind she was intruding on their grief just by being there. She just wanted them to drop her off at her home and go so that she could be alone and out of their way.

When the car pulled up to her house she stepped out of it quickly and ran up her front steps before a word could be said between them. After unlocking the door and making her way inside she leaned against the wall beside it and reached to close it slowly. Her mind played through the first day that she met him in Roy's office. He was determined that she would stay with him and his family rather than alone in her uncles home but she had dismissed him saying that she had just wanted to be alone so that she could think over what had happened to her family. She had pushed that sweet caring man away when he just wanted to help her and thus had made herself an outsider at his funeral. She knew she shouldn't have went to it in the first place but she wanted to support the Colonel and Lieutenant Colonel in their grief, going and standing beside them seemed to be the best way to support them at the time but she was beginning to regret that decision as she slid to the floor beside her door.

"Edward and Al, they don't know." She whispered to the darkened house as she rested her head against the wall. She sat like that for a long while before slowly pulling herself to her feet and dragging them across the floor as she made her way to her room. It still hurt to walk, mainly in her bruised labia and thighs, but the pain was becoming less and less as each day passed. She found that walking slowly as she made her way down the hall was less painful than rushing anything. When she finally made it to her bedroom she quickened her steps slightly and allowed herself to fall into the bed with a relieved sigh. Her eyes felt heavy as she lay there on her stomach facing the side of the bed that was usually reserved for either a stack of journals or Edward when he sat up with her at night reading from the stack of journals which would be on the bedside table at that time. Now it was empty and the thought caused her to feel a heavy sense of loneliness and longing for the warmth of Edwards back against hers as she slept. Her eyes slowly drifted closed as the sight of his face danced across her mind. Her lips pulled into a smile as she drifted off into sleep with the thought of seeing him again soon fresh in her mind.

Days went by, then weeks. She received her State Alchemist certificate and watch from a stranger to her who called themselves Major Barr, he had also given her a uniform that held one star on its shoulder straps, representing that she was on the same level as a Major herself. She wondered why it was hand delivered to her house instead of her being sent for by Roy, then she spent days wondering why there were many officers in her home including Jericho and his new wife.

Most of all she wondered where the Elric brothers had managed to go.

She was constantly told that she should focus on healing the ones who were brought into her home, which had become more of a war clinic than a home. Even her own bed had been given up to serve as a resting place for two bullet riddled privates. She barely had time to herself in those days, rushing to and fro in her house to help those who needed it, only to see them walk away from her and back into the battle that she had found out raged in the heart of the city.

There was word on the death of the Fuhrer, and rumors that it was the Flame Alchemist who had done it. Then even more rumors of the earthquake that had shaken many of the valuable items from her walls to send them crashing and shattering to pieces being caused by the FullMetal Alchemist. She was not as angry about this news as most who had found their way to her abode appeared to be, she in fact was nearly ecstatic that her boyfriend had found his way home after all. She waited patiently for him to return to her while using her medical skills and a small amount of alchemy to heal those in her care.

Edward did not come home.

Another month went by before she saw Roy again.

He was in the hospital, a thick white patch of gauze across half his face and the same half of his body wrapped in the stuff as well. Hawkeye was beside him, sitting in the chair with one arm in a sling and reading quietly out loud from a book to the sleeping man when Emily stepped into the room. The uniform that she had decided to wear finally was loose at the top but it still fit her well enough for the seam to pinch a bit below her arm when she snapped into a salute for the woman. Riza Hawkeye gave her a soft smile before returning her salute and looking back down at the man before them on the bed.

"How bad is it?" she asked as she settled into a comfortable standing position beside the seated woman.

"he will never see out of his left eye again." Riza sighed as she grabbed ahold of his hand lightly and gave a small squeeze, "Other than that the doctors say he should be alright, he may need some help from a cane to walk for a while after he wakes up."

"What happened?" Emily asked as she looked down at him, "I mean I heard that he killed the Fuhrer?" she forced herself to ask the question, causing her voice to come out only slightly better than a terrified squeak.

"The Fuhrer was a Homunculus, Pride I believe." Riza answered. Automatically Emily felt a heavy weight lift from her shoulders; she knew that Roy was not the type of man to kill the leader of his country for no reason and she was relieved to know that she was right in thinking so.

"Edward?" this time her voice was just a squeak as she finally got the question that they both knew was coming. Riza simply shook her head as she turned to look back down at Roy.

"He cannot be located at this time. There was a strange array in the under city, we believe that he may have sacrificed himself for his brother once he had the Philosophers stone." The first Lieutenant seemed distant again as she spoke to Emily in a very stern tone, but underneath this was signs of grief laced through her words.

"Al?" She choked out after nearly a minute fighting the feelings inside her.

"He was found, just a few days ago, in the under city." Hawkeye stated slowly.

"Is he okay? Without Ed-" she took in a deep breath to steady her voice before continuing, "Without his brother his seal-"

"Emily, we found Alphonse, but not the one you knew. He has his body back." Riza turned to the girl as she spoke, "Emily? Emily! HAGRAVEN!" she shouted as Emily fell to her knees, then continued to fall until her face made contact with the cold tiles below her.

(End of Chapter 7: I hope you enjoyed this chapter [or you know, didn't because it's a sad one] please leave a review and let me know what you would like to see in the future! I have a bit of an upcoming chapter handwritten because inspiration struck and I was not near my computer. Anyway, I love you my dear readers and hope you all come back for more!)


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8:

The winds blowing across the desert whipped her cloak side to side quickly enough for it to leave large welts that grew under the guise of her clothes. Her hair had been cut short for the journey to Liore but that did not stop it from dripping with sweat. Her right boot did not stop the steel of her automail from heating to the point that it burned where it connected to her skin either. She was a woman on a mission and she wanted answers, mainly from one who went by the name of Rose and was said to have two toned hair. Emily didn't think it would be so hard to find this woman when she had set out a few weeks after hearing of Edward's disappearance, but she was beginning to doubt, not for the first time either, her guessing expertise. There were no longer any roads or trains that led into the small town, causing her to feel as if it may as well go by the name of Ishbal. That's how connected to the rest of the country this small town seemed to her. Her foot slipped, sinking down a few inches in the sand and causing her to stop and grasp her knee with her hands and physically pull it out of the natural trap she had found herself in. She cursed as she forced her foot back onto the top of the sand and tested her next steps carefully before continuing. The train that was supposed to drop her at Liore's door, the one that Armstrong had written to her about with such loving words, like a father doting on a child, that train did not exist, yet. It was a train that the Armstrong family was currently working on for travel between central and Liore to become a verified fact again. He had made it seem as if the train was waiting for her at the station but the one she had gotten into so excitedly had only gone so far as the edge of the desert. The conductor had given her strange looks when she had stepped off beside a group of men hauling crates on their backs, but had turned the train around and left none the less, without even waiting to make sure one of the groups offered her a ride. The men had acted as if she didn't exists which was not what the Armstrong's would do and she was sure of it, they needed to act more like their employers and less like overworked jerks.

"I hate the sand, and the hot." She groaned as she let her arms hang limply by her sides, "When Roy is Fuhrer I am going to write a very lengthy report indicating exactly why all the deserts in Amestris should be terraformed with alchemy into nice pleasant farmland. It's going to be so well written and beautiful that they are going to leap at the chance to fulfill my wish." After speaking she tripped on a rock hidden cleverly by the sand and fell forward to lie against the scorching surface.

"I want to go home." She wined as she pushed herself up and onto her knees, "It's too bloody hot around here to think straight.

 _It's too hot to go on Al, let me ride on your back._

She jumped up to her feet and looked around herself quickly; lately she had been hearing tiny fragments of conversations that felt right to her, like she knew that the brothers had said those words around that exact place. The most common occurrences of this were in her own study or kitchen, where they spent most of their time at home. She had not uttered a word about her strange form of haunting because she knew that they would say she was overworked and overtired and just missed the brothers, and then they would try to convince her to lie down until she felt better.

"Come on guys." She groaned as she bent forward slightly at the waist as if under a large weight, "Just hurry up and get this over with. I really don't want to be the crazy stranger." She sighed after speaking and continued to look around herself. Sometimes the brother's ghost would reward her with a faint glimpse of a blonde braided ponytail or the glint of light off of a metal spike. She didn't know how to stop herself for wishing for these things, even if they only brought her pain in their passing.

 _Brother we are almost there and you can walk you know!_

 _Come on just piggy back me! It's not like you can't carry me._

There was a long pause where she simply walked forward towards the village with her head down.

 _What the hell Alphonse!?_

 _Now it's your turn to piggy back me brother!_

 _Piggy back you? You are a seven foot tall suit of armor!_

 _So!_

 _So? So you're heavy!_

She let herself have a small chuckle as she thought of what the scene may look like if they were right in front of her. The mental image of the small blonde brother climbing up the large metal brother gave her a strong sense of homesickness that she often felt when she took time out to think of either of the Elric's for too long.

She sighed as she placed one hand on her belly and looked at the ever growing dot on the horizon that she hoped to be the village of Liore. The Desert stretched out for as far as she could see in every direction around her, seemingly never ending and ready to devour her. She sped up in her steps and pumped her arms as she ran awkwardly across the sand towards the vision that was growing larger and larger in her sight.

It took close to another hour for her to make it to the outskirts of the village, toppled buildings and rubble surrounded the road formed by straight clear lines in the sand. She sighed as she pulled her knapsack's string up a bit further on her shoulder and stepped between the destroyed building with all the speed of a dead man, and the enthusiasm of one as well.

"Hey are you alright?" She lifted her head only enough to see that the man who had asked her the question seemed to be carrying a large stack of wood over one shoulder and looked at her with a slight confusion in his eyes.

"I am here to moderate the rebuilding of Liore, as has been stated in the papers sent down the line of the Armstrong Generations to the people of this town. I am a State Alchemist," she noted that the man seemed to raise one brow and look hard at her right arm, "Here to protect the citizens of this fair town from whatever may come after you."

"That is awfully nice of the Armstrong's." The man stated as he blinked down at her, still curious about her right arm which she pulled the sleeve up on to so that it was in fact real. Too many people knew Edward before she met him, she determined, she did not like having to show that she was not exactly like him every time she said she was with the state, "But to send you in here half dead from the desert was not the best plan." The man said as he waved her over. She stumbled and had to use a few walls to keep herself upright, but managed to walk to and sit down in one of the six chairs that sat around his tiny bar like shop. She leaned on the flat semi-circle of a bar before her and allowed a low tired groan to erupt from her throat, "You seem like you could use quite a bit of food and water before you go one protecting a whole village." He added as she rubbed furiously at her eyes and cheeks in order to clear her vision of the sand that still clung there.

"I could use some water." She sighed as she scratched the area just to the outside of her right eye.

"Sure thing." She smiled a large cup of water before pulling it to her lips and drinking deeply of its grainy contents. She only drank half the cup however, choosing to dump the remaining half in her right boot to cool off the automail and the pink tinged burned skin around its connector port. She let out a relived sound and closed her eyes happily before turning her attention to the stranger once again.

"Thanks for the water," she stated as she leaned against the bar, "But that's not all I need from you right now. Got any information on Liore's current state that would help me to better guard it, anything is important, like current tunnels under the town or hidden caves in the sand."

"Well, Rose would be the person to speak to about that, she is our holy mother after all." The man shrugged as he began to clean out the cup she had just used with a rag from his waist loops, "She should be making her rounds soon if you want to wait her out." He added as he smiled down at her.

"I think I'll just do that." She muttered as she turned her back to the man and rested her elbows on the bar as she crossed her legs at the knee before her. Just as she was settling into a comfortable pose on her chair, a quick flash of gold caused her to turn her head to the left almost fast enough to cause herself whiplash. She just managed to see the ends of a bright blonde ponytail going around a corner farther down the road from where she sat at the small eatery. She leapt quickly from her seat and ignored the calls from the man behind her as she ran as fast as she could to catch up with the bright blonde ponytail.

 _Edward, Edward, Is that you Edward!?_

She slid around the corner, kicking up a cloud of sand as she did so and continued her frantic chase of the elusive ponytail. She tracked it deeper into the town until it vanished around a corner leading into a dead end with four doors leading up to it, two on either side of the flat wall that signified the end of the alleyway. She squatted down and angrily scratched at her bangs as she groaned in despair.

"Where did you go Ed?" she asked as she punched at the ground with a frown.

"Did you say Ed?" She turned suddenly to look at the man peering out of the last door on the right. His skin was tanned from the desert sun and that offset his bright gold hair and eyes in an almost unnatural way. His chin was covered in a thick blonde beard that ran up to his hairline on both sides and the hair of it stuck out straight from his skin a few inches before blending into fine points at the bottom of it. He wore a pair of wire rimmed glasses that rested towards the tip of his nose as he stared down at her. His clothing was a simple dusty white button up shirt with a black tie and vest to match over a pair of well-worn slacks and boots that have seen better days. She searched the areas of his skin that she could see but saw no markings that reminded her of Edwards scars or markings. She looked into the man's eyes once again only to see that the man's eyes were just a few shades too light to be Ed's and they seemed much too old for the man who bore them.

"You aren't Edward." She clamped her hand over her mouth as soon as the words left her lips, as if by doing so she would be able to force them back into her body. The man laughed however and held up one hand to signify she should wait until he was done before looking back up to her eyes, captivating the silver orbs with his own golden ones.

"No, but if I am thinking of the same Edward as you are then we are talking about my son, my oldest one." He held his hand out to offer it to her to shake, "My name is Hoienhime." Her eyes widened as she backed away from his quickly before looking over him once again. If she imagined a metal right arm and left leg, she could see Edward looking a lot like this man when he was fully grown. Her hand stretched out between the two of them and rested against his own. His palm seemed to swallow hers as his fingers wrapped around her hand before he gave it a gentle shake.

"Nice to meet you little miss. What should I call you though?" he asked, using a tone that brought memories of her father playing tea party with her to the forefront of her mind.

"Emily Hagraven." She stated as she answered his shake with one of her own.

"Hagraven? Hmm I knew a Louis and Saleme Hagraven in the past." He rubbed the fine blonde hairs at the front of his chin as he spoke.

"That's my parent's names. Or, at least that was my parent's names back when they were alive." She looked up to see him holding the door open with one hand and motioning her inside with the other. She allowed herself to be led out of the harsh light of the desert day and into the slightly cooler recesses of his small living space. All that he had was a small cot on one side of the room and a foldable chair on the other side of the small space with what appeared to be a portable wood stove set up between them. She caught herself looking around the room for just a moment too long before she stumbled over to sit at the foot of the cot that seemed far too uncomfortable to sleep upon.

"It feels much better in here where we can be out of that broiler of a desert." Hoienhime chuckled lightly at his own words before taking his place in the folding chair, "Though nights here get pretty cold so this thing becomes very useful unless you like frostbite on your toes." He said as he tapped the stove between them.

"I have an automail foot." She stated quickly before looking away from the strange man. She didn't know why she had the sudden urge to let him know that, it had come from nowhere and left just as quickly.

"Oh, did you get it in Rush Valley? I hear that is the new best place for automail." Hoienhime smiled at her once again, the same smile that her father wore when he had been playing along with her. She frowned and looked down at the sandy spot between her feet rather than at his face.

"No, I got my foot attached to my leg by a friend of Edwards in central." She stated softly as she closed her eyes.

"A friend of my sons?" He looked up to her with an eyebrow arched as he asked the question.

"Her name is Winry." Emily reached down to pet the top of her boot as she spoke as if she could feel the metal through the thick leather. He nodded at her words and stood to move across the small room. He had to slide past her in order to gain access to it, but eventually managed to get a small black book down from a shelf above her head.

"I have some old pictures of the boys when they were growing up, and a family photo as well." He said softly as he flipped through the book. He handed it to her once he had opened it to a page holding an image of himself holding up a young Ed with a baby Alphonse being held lovingly by a smiling woman with light chestnut colored hair. She studied the image silently, running the nail of her thumb along the side of the young Edwards face as the sting of tears that threatened to fall from her eyes.

"You have a very lovely family." She said slowly as she squeezed her eyes shut against the sting on the edges of them.

"I don't think that Edward quite thinks of me as a member of his family, and I have not been to see Alphonse since Rose found him in his own body in Central." He spoke dismissively as he took the book back from her.

"Why don't you just go see him?" she asked as she leaned forward slightly, her silver eyes widened as she watched him moving about the room. He stopped once and gave her a small shrug before continuing on his personal mission to pick up whatever he deemed was needed to be moved and shifted the objects around the room just to keep himself busy.

"It's not like Alphonse remembers the last time you two met, he lost all the memories of when he was a soul bonded to armor." She looked away from his back to her twiddling thumbs as she spoke, "He doesn't remember anyone or anything from the years that he was traveling with his brother. He doesn't remember the good that he helped bring into this world, or the bad that he helped eradicate." She released a soft sigh as she looked back up to Hoienhimes face, "He's a blank book now, just ready to be filled in with memories, if you want your own chapter you can't just run away and hide from your son."

"Am I running from him?" he looked up as he asked the question that caused her to pull back a bit in shock, did he really think he was doing Alphonse any good by staying in this desert while the poor boy lived by himself in Resembool?

"What would you call hiding away in the Desert?" she asked and put added emphasis on the word desert.

"I am not hiding." He answered smoothly," I am Here to help rebuild this village and at the same time discover the secrets that still remain in the tunnels that are located below the old church."

"There are secrets here." Emily furrowed her brow as she mulled over his words and pinched her chin between her thumb and forefinger.

"I sense that you are not here for the reasons I heard you give the chef." He stated as he turned to lean against the wall with his arms crossed before his chest. She shook her head and let out a soft sigh after looking down at the spot between her feet once again.

"In all honesty, I was looking for Edward, hoping he may have gotten blasted down the tunnel that Sloth made, or even made his own way along it. But no matter where I go there is no word on him. We need FullMetal in case the Homunculi get their wits together and begin another attack." She stuttered through the same words that she had given Roy in front of the board of directors in order to be able to go on her quest to find him in the first place.

"Well, I cant say I know Edward the best, but I would say that he would go straight for his brother if he managed to find his way back, wouldn't you agree." Her closed eyes popped open at his words and she looked quickly up to him with her jaw hanging slightly before she managed to get her thoughts together and recognize what he was saying.

"But Alphonse is in Resembool." She stated softly as she squeezed her hands together.

"Yes he is." Hoienhime stated as he motioned towards the door. She gritted her teeth as she stood and rushed past him out into the sands once again, "Yes he is." He repeated softly as he closed his bright golden eyes against the light from outside.

The long trip through the desert back to the train station that she had been dropped off at almost a week prior was not so bad as her initial trek into the desert. She had a lightness in her chest as she thought of what to say to the board in order to be able to get Alphonse and bring him back to Central, back to her home, where he could hopefully find his memories and his elder brother could easily find him. Before she knew it she was at the station, sitting on a long bench and kicking her feet slightly with the ticking of the clock. She had arrived at an odd time, and thus had to wait for the next morning in order to board the train to Central City where she would go straight to the board with her request. Listening to the ticking of the clock however, caused the already sluggish passing of time to seem that much slower in comparison and she was soon letting out a gentle sigh of annoyance towards herself.

"Long wait to be sitting on a hard bench." She looked up to see a stranger wearing a white tank top that showed off both of his automail arms smiling down at her. She fumbled with the button of her back pocket until she could grab ahold of her pocket watch as she followed his movements with her eyes. He shifted to sit down lazily beside her and draped his arm across the back of the bench, "I mean I can see you're a soldier but sheesh, you think you would know better than to sit on hard surfaces all night long." He added as he smirked playfully at her.

"I don't think you fully understand what or who I am sir," she began as she pulled the silver watch out of her back pocket and shoved the metal disk in his face, "I am a State Alchemist on a mission for the state as appointed by the Board of Directors working in the place of the late Fuhrer King Bradley. I have no time for mindless chatter." The brunette male seemed off put by her words which caused her to struggle at keeping her facial features blank.

"Geez, dogs of the military are still so aggressive." He grumbled as he stood and rubbed the back of his neck with his automail digits, "I just wanted to pass the time so I wouldn't be bored." He grumbled on as he turned away from her, "Hard ass." Was the last thing he stated before moving away. She sighed as she leaned back in her seat, that was the norm for her now a days, as soon as she rambled off her assigned status and mission people seemed to just want to get as far from her as possible. She knew that it was mainly her fault for giving everyone the cold shoulder and hiding behind those words and that watch, but she just couldn't help herself. Whenever it felt like someone was trying to get close to her she would push them away out of fear of getting so close to someone only to lose them as soon as she was comfortable.

"I'm not just a military dog." She pouted to herself as she kicked her feet lightly again, this time they were just slightly out of sync with the sounds of the ticking clock above her. The other patrons at the station seemed to have given her a wide berth after her brief encounter with the automail armed stranger but she didn't mind, it gave her time to think of exactly what she was going to say to the board once she got back to central. It would be easy to get Roy on her side, what with the way he had treated her and how easy it had been to get along with him for the last three years she was sure he would gladly sign off on an expedition to the moon if she wanted one. The other members on the board of directors would be harder to convince, but if she could get them on her side then she could do just about anything to get the brothers back.

It was almost funny to think of how easy the new leaders were to manipulate, with just a few choice words they danced in the palm of her hand. These thoughts played through her mind as she slipped into a not quite comfortable sleep on the bench, her lips jerking up into a smile as she mumbled softly words that only she could understand, lost in her own personal dream world as she was.

(End of Chapter 8: sorry for the choppy chapter, this one is only to lead into the ready made chapter which I hope will make up for everything. Though chapter nine is written out, it is by hand and thus I must type it before I can publish it here. Please be patient and I promise you will not regret it.)


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9:

It was surprisingly easy to convince the Board to send her to Resembool. In fact it felt as if they were using her for their own goals instead of the other way around as she boarded the train to the boy's hometown. She thought over Roy Mustangs quick explanation that the young Alphonse Elric had shown potential enough for them to be notified of his abilities even though he lived way out in a rural town like Resembool.

 _The poor guy must have been writing General Mustang for a long time for him to want him back in Central so soon._

They had told her that it was of absolute importance that she go to his hometown immediately and collect him so that they could test him on his abilities in the Central Command Center's training grounds. Roy even said that he himself would sponsor the boy on his quest to become a State Alchemist.

 _Roy must have been planning this for a while, maybe even since the day they found Alphonse as a ten year old starved boy three years ago._

She was to be assured that the ones looking after Al knew that she was on her way and that he was to go with her to Central as soon as possible. She was also to note that any conversation, casual or otherwise, about Edward Elric was to be avoided at all cost. If Alphonse brought him up then she was to say as little as possible about the FullMetal Alchemist and was not to prod the boy for information beyond his mother's death.

Now she found herself standing like a deer in the headlights as her hands shook lightly at her sides. She took in a deep steadying breath before allowing her fingers to fold themselves into a fist that she used to lightly tap the wood of the dark green front door. Beside her was a hand painted sign that proclaimed: Rockbell Automail in a flowing script that she had never seen before. She only allowed her eyes to linger on the painted letters for a few seconds before turning back to the door she had just knocked upon. She was ready for whatever waited for her on the other side of that door, she had to be, so she told herself that she was.

Her uniform was itchy and uncomfortable; no one told her that it would be itchy or uncomfortable. She pulled at the collar of it in hopes of a s bit of relief as she reached up with her free hand to knock on the door once again. Her body leaned forward slightly as she did this, causing her automail foot to creak and groan with the shifting of her weight. She allowed a small frown to pull the edges of her lips down just a hairs width as she thought of her foot, after the rest of her business was concluded she would ask for, no she would beg for a new foot. She would pay double whatever the blonde mechanic ordered of her and she would be damned happy with whatever she walked away on.

As long as they let her walk away with Alphonse that is.

"My name is Major Emily Hagraven," she rehearsed as she tapped her fist against the door once again, "I have been sent by General Roy Mustang to collect one Alphonse Elric," the name brought a sharp painful tug along with it, the kind that pulled at ones heart," I am here to bring him to Central as was laid out in the letter." As she spoke she squeezed the silver pocket watch that proclaimed her a State Alchemist between her fingers.

"You're a Major?" the voice that drifted through her ears like sweet honey was youthful but still masculine, it was a voice that she could clearly remember echoing hollowly out of a metal helmet so many times before. It was a voice she had been waiting so long to hear again that the sound of it brought tears of joy to her eyes. She clutched the watch more tightly in her hand as she steeled her expression.

 _He won't remember you, so you have to act accordingly._ Colonel Hawkeye's words played through her mind as she took in a steadying breath. He was there, right there, and all she could do was turn and smile politely down at him. His hair was a darker blonde than Ed's and cut close to his head in a boyish fashion. His eyes were a deeper amber color, but that did not stop them from sparkling as he looked up to her from the bottom of the steps leading up to the porch. She had to force her mind to accept that _THIS WAS ALPHONSE_! Even as she struggled against the memories of a tall suit of armor she had come to know and love like an older brother.

"You must be Alphonse." She forced her voice to remain steady as she stepped towards him with her hand outstretched in greeting, "I am Emily Hagraven, but you can just call me Emily. I am here to escort you to Central." His physical features did not make her heart want to shatter more than the bright red coat he wore over his black shirt that had thick white piping along the outer seams.

"It's nice to meet you Emily." His hand was small compared to her own, it caused her to wonder just how much she had grown in the last three years that she had spent alone. She wanted to cry, hell she wanted to scream at the top of her lungs that she loved him and she loved his damned puny no good amazing wonderful loving brilliant idiot of a brother. Instead she smiled as she had rehearsed, shook his hand (his real, warm, flesh hand!) firmly and released it before she could linger and stand in awe of the one thing that Edward had wanted to touch.

"It's nice to meet you as well." She stated with a controlled even voice just as the much shorter woman with light pink hair that was tied up in a bun approached them from behind Alphonse.

"I see that you've arrived." The woman, who Ed and Al had always referred to as Granny, stated around her pipe. Before Emily could reply she let out a slow sigh, "Might as well come in for a bit. I could hear that foot of yours a mile off and I am sure Winry is just dying to replace it."

"Yes ma'am! I mean, uh, thank you Mrs. Rockbell." She stumbled around her words. She had not been expecting such a warm welcome as she had been given. In her heart she felt as if she didn't deserve it at all because she was no Rockbell, and she was no Elric either. The young Alphonse seemed so curious about her and she found his curious pokes and prods adorable, like a loving sister would think of a little brother. She even handed her silver pocket watch over to the gaping blonde and let him test the weight of it in his hands.

"Did my big brother have one of these?" Alphonse had asked the question that none of the three adult females in the room wanted to answer; any questions about Ed were almost too painful to bear. Emily was the one who finally spoke up when Al's bright bronze eyes landed on her own dull silver ones.

"Yeah." She nearly choked on the word, but in the end managed to smile at the young boy as she got it out.

"Was he any good?" he asked, not looking away from her. She winced as Winry none too gently disconnected her automail foot from her nerve endings at the stub on her leg.

"He was the best Al." she answered as she fought the urge to cry.

"I knew it!" Alphonse proclaimed loudly as he held her watch out to her. She accepted it as the tears in her eyes caused her vision to swim. She faintly recognized the one moving around her as Winry while her eyes remained firmly on the vision that was Alphonse Elric.

"Did you know my brother?" he asked after the silence between them had caused him to scratch his upper arm uncomfortably. Her eyebrows pulled tightly together as she fought to keep her features from forming into the vision of pain that his question had given her.

"Yes." She said after steadying herself, "He, he was my teacher when I was first learning the science of Alchemy." His face seemed to shine even brighter with each and every word that she spoke.

"Wow, brother trained another State Alchemist? He really was amazing!: Before she even had a chance to answer his statement with one of her own the small woman appeared at his side and rested her hand on his shoulder gently.

"Come on Al, no need to question the poor girl." She stated with a stern expression that didn't reach her eyes, "She just got off a train and had a foot removed to boot, let's leave her be and let her rest now. Besides, Winrys apple pie isn't going to eat itself." Al leapt up at the promise of pie and after going through a stream of polite goodbyes he left both Emily and Granny standing alone in the room as he rushed off towards the kitchen.

"It must be hard for you, seeing him like that." The old woman stated as Emily wiped her eyes with her sleeve.

"I just wasn't expecting him to look so much like Edward." She stated between barely held back sobs. The little old woman frowned before nodding and patting her on the arm. She didn't say anything as Emily sat there trying so desperately to hold back her tears for what seemed like and eternity. Her heart had been shattered, healed, and shattered again, all in the span of time it took her to speak to Alphonse.

* * *

The train ride was quiet, not that she wasn't used to quiet rides, but now she wasn't alone and the quiet that had settled between herself and a certain thirteen year old State Alchemist hopeful was damn well awkward and infuriating. This was Al, her Al, her Al who always had a bit of input for her on the latest Alchemical Journals back when he was seven feet tall and shiny. She wiped her sweaty hands on her uniform pants once again as she stole yet another glance of the boy. She couldn't forget who he was just because he wasn't **_that_** person anymore. The memories were real enough in her heart for the both of them and she could damn well try, if not for her own sake then for his, and if not for his then for Edwards.

"So," she began as her eyes turned towards the scenery that was rushing past them from beyond the window," Read any good Alchemical Journals lately?" she risked a peek at his face and saw it light up from within, in the back of her mind she half expected the squeal of metal on metal as he leaned his body towards her. Instead of the distant but achingly familiar sound, she was rewarded with his bright bronze/gold eyes sparkling with excitement as he rattled off his recent findings. She felt her back, which she hadn't realized was stiffened before, relax at the sound of his excited voice. He was still her Alphonse; still just like a brother to her, though maybe not a big brother, not anymore.

The train ride wasn't so uncomfortable anymore; they spent the long hours discussing the differences between Amestrian Alchemy and Xinginese Alchestery, that was between multiple trips to the dining car so that she could treat Alphonse to whatever food he desired. After those back and forth trips the poor boy had succumbed to exhaustion, leaning up against Emily's shoulder as he slept. She had found and draped his bright red coat over his shoulders and rested her left arm on his left shoulder to hold it in place. Her eyes found the ever moving scenery outside the window once again. The sun had set hours beforehand and since they were nowhere near a city or town she could see the stars clearly as the train cut its way through the darkness around them.

"I hope you can see the stars, wherever you are Ed." She stated as she lightly hugged the sleeping boy to her side, "We are all here waiting whenever you decide to come home." As she spoke a soft yawn left her lips and she found her head resting up against the cool glass of the window before she allowed her eyes to slide closed. Her body relaxed back into the seat as she felt sleep pull at her consciousness. She needed to sleep, and she deserved to sleep after the internal hell that she had put up with in the last day alone.

* * *

The wonderful welcome for Alphonse at Central Command left Emily a bit out of sorts to say the least. These were the people who had known him and his brother before she had the pleasure, no the privilege to know the great Elric brothers. The others treated Al like a long lost loved one, even Hawkeye pulled the poor boy in for a quick hug that she was sure went against protocol. After this had happened, Emily decided that the best thing for her to do would be to loudly announce that she would be in the Mess Hall since it was noodles and meat sauce day and that it was where she could be found if anyone (Alphonse Elric only please God!) decided to come looking for her.

Roy had been the one to see her out, which caused a chorus of giggles and mumbles about dating subordinates to echo out of the room and settle around her ears. She didn't mind it as much as she had before; and even took his offered arm as he led her down the hall. Roy, for all of his eye-patched splendor, was still a very attractive man. She never thought of him as not being attractive before but after three long years of being alone she found herself tracing the contours of his face with her eyes, even as a small voice in the back of her mind, which sounded oddly similar to a certain blonde alchemist she used to know, told her that it would be over his own dead body that she would be seen in public with the womanizer known as Colonel Mustang. Her inner voice needed to get the memo that Roy had gained a few ranks since he had last saw him.

"I can't begin to tell you how grateful we all are that you brought him to us first." Roy stated softly as he led her down the hall.

"I did have half a mind to take him home and lock him away." She answered honestly as she let a soft sigh escape and clutched onto the sleeve of his uniform. He nodded thoughtfully then and let her release him as they rounded the corner to stand before the large doors of the Mess Hall.

"I'll be sure to have him stay with you while he's in Central, though I can't say how long his stay will be, he is an Elric after all." She nodded at his words but did not get a chance to reply to him because then there was Jericho and Jessie, tugging her away from him to show her more pictures of their two year old daughter. She let them pull her away because there was no right reason to stay by him. There was laughter and jokes and looks from an old enemy turned friend that were no longer laced with the venom that they once held.

"We haven't been out on a proper date in two months." Jericho began, causing her to raise her eyebrow, so they had planned to use her as a babysitter once again; she had grown used to it since their daughter Penelope had been born.

"I could watch her one night this weekend." She stated then after a hearty bite of Noodles, she only said it because she knew that it was what they wanted to hear. Besides that she owed them after all, for making her the young girl's godmother.

"Penelope loves it over at her aunt Em's house." Jessie stated then around a small smile. Emily smiled back at the blonde as she remembered the sit down that she had had with them shortly after she had become a State Alchemist, when Jericho had told his fuming bride that he loved Emily like she was his own little sister and she would just have to get over it. That Jessie had owed him as much for not allowing his 'little sister' to come to their wedding. The next time they had met, Jessie had treated her like an old friend and shortly after had proclaimed that Emily would be her daughters godmother and if anyone did not like that then they could take it up with Jessie Rose personally.

"I love having her over." Emily stated around a mouthful of the near tasteless noodles that the Mess Hall served, "That big old house just gets so damn lonely nowadays." She knew that her words would be met with downcast eyes, but refused to allow that to deter her from her goal. She had good news to share and nothing would stop her from sharing it.

"It won't be so lonely much longer." She stated after a long moment of silence. The two before her looked quickly at one another after she spoke. She saw Jericho questionably mouth the Generals first name to his wife, who shrugged in return and succeeded in causing her to blush.

"Alphonse is in Central." She stated quickly in hopes of avoiding **_that_** conversation again, "I have it on good authority that he will be boarding with me."

"Alphonse Elric?" Jericho asked as he looked carefully into her eyes. Everyone knew of course, it had been no secret that Al had gained his body back at the cost of his memories, "Will that be okay, I mean it won't be hard for you will it?" he asked as he noticed her smile laced with a content sadness that she was known for wearing when thinking of the Elrics.

"It will be more than okay, it will be great! My house has too many bedrooms as is, even if you don't count mine or Penelope's." they smiled at her then before turning their attention to something behind her. She didn't have to wait very long to find out what had caught their attention because his devilishly angelic voice graced her ears shortly after.

"Um, Major Hagraven ma'am?" she turned her silver eyes on the precious brother and spitting image of the one who had taken her heart and vanished without a trace so shortly afterwards.

"Hello Alphonse, we were just talking about you." She stated around a genuinely happy smile, which the gods above decided to reward her for with a smile in return from the bright eyed boy.

"He isn't as short as I thought he would be." Jericho stated then, successfully breaking the spell that had settled around her.

"Why would you think I was going to be short?" Alphonse asked as he turned his not quite golden eyes on Jericho's face. Emily looked between the two and shook her head at the couple sitting at the table with her before standing up quickly and stepping up to stand beside Alphonse. She smiled at the boy as she placed one hand on his shoulder gently.

"He just meant that you're pretty tall for a thirteen year old, ya know." She stated with a friendly chuckle. She knew that they knew he had lost his memories but she doubted that either of them would remember to keep Edward's name out of the conversation. It would be too painful for Alphonse to hear about his brother from people who barely knew him. She had already made plans to ease him into learning about what happened to his brother, and himself, over the years that he was stuck as a should bonded to a suit of armor.

"Well, Granny always says that I'm tall for my age." Alphonse chuckled a bit as he spoke before his face fell into a mask of seriousness as he turned it towards Emily, "General Mustang told me that I should come talk to you about my living arrangements while I am in Central." She nodded as she let her hand drop from his shoulder before bending forward to collect her plate of half eaten food. She motioned for him to follow her with her head before walking over to the set of garbage bins by the door and dumping her plate into one.

"I'll call you guys Saturday and set up a time for you to bring her over." She called out before leading him out into the hall. She did not stop there; in fact she led him clear out of the Command Center before stopping and turning to look over him as if to size him up.

"Um, miss Hagraven?" Al asked as she cupped her chin between her thumb and her bent forefinger.

"It's just Emily when we are out of the office," she stated quickly, "And hush, I am trying to think of how to say this." He obediently snapped his mouth shut and went stiff in the knees as if he was awaiting some sort of terrible news. The sight of him like that, when she had what she hoped to be good news for him caused her to smile as she held back outright laughter that was threatening to emerge from her throat, "Oh don't look like that please," she begged as she pressed her hand to her mouth while she attempted to hold back the giggle that was building in her chest.

"I was just going to say that you are far too young to live on your own so I was going to suggest that you should come live with me; my house is big, way too big for just me to live in, and I think you will find it nice and cozy. I have a lot of rooms you can choose from, all of which are already prepared for you to move into if you want to come. You don't have to but I just thought that you would be much more comfortable in your own room than in the soldiers barracks." He smiled at her words and nodded his head slowly.

"Yeah, I would like to come to your house, I mean, I think I would get lonely surrounded by a bunch of strangers." He answered as he looked down shyly. She smiled and nodded knowing full well that many of the soldiers did not think of him as a stranger at all.

"Well then, let's go. I feel like I am about to starve and I am sure you could use something other than those oily meat buns that you had at the station." She stated as she reached for one of the two bags he had carried with him. He moved slightly as if to stop her but seemed to think better of it as he grabbed the second bag. He followed her quietly down the walk after her quick apology for not owning a car and living so far away from the Command Center.

"It's nice to take a walk once in a while." Alphonse stated as she led him through the gates and onto the sidewalk that ran along the side of the road.

"Lucky me, I get to do it just about every day." She chuckled as she threw his bag over her shoulder to rest against her shoulder blades. They continued to walk in silence until they turned onto her road. She motioned down the way to the lined up houses as she turned her head to glance at him without turning fully around to face him.

"I live in that brown one with the gray roof, the fifth one down the way." She stated as she gave him a gentle smile. He returned her smile and nodded before following her down the sidewalk. She led him to her front steps before running up them quickly and unlocking the front door before he had even made it to the second of the three steps, "It's not much, but it's home. There's a park at the end of the road to, if you know, you need a place to think." She stated as she pushed the door open and ushered him inside.

* * *

Alphonse seemed for a moment like he recognized her home before he shook his head and gave her a small smile. She closed the door behind them after returning his smile and dropping the bag down softly by the foyers closet door. She watched as he carried the other bag with him into her living room and looked around himself slowly. She followed him when he stepped around the corner to move further into the room.

"Like I said, it's not much." She mumbled as she moved around him to flip the light-switch up. The room was flooded with a warm orange glow from the old bulbs that hung above their heads.

"No, it's really nice. It feels homey somehow." He answered her as he did another turn to study the room, "Do I really get to live here?" he asked after he was done.

"You can live here for as long as you want." She answered him as she pointed towards the hallway, "Down there is the bedrooms, the master and the room that is covered in pink are spoken for but you still have three to choose from. I would suggest the one by my study so you could get to the books I've collected any time day or night." She shrugged as she pointed to the doorway that sat at the beginning of the hall, "there is the kitchen, once again feel free to it anytime. The first door on the hall is the linen closet and the second door to the right is the bathroom. I'm sorry I only have one but I am sure we can make do." She smiled as she scratched at a spot behind her ear, "I think I'll go cook a bit while you settle in, that Mess Hall food never really fills me up, do you have any requests?" she asked as she stepped towards the kitchen.

"Uh, not really," Al stated as he stared at the wall that separated the living room from the foyer, "That wall is new." He stated suddenly, causing her to look at him in shock.

"Yeah," I had it installed last year because I wanted one like my family has when I was growing up." She stated slowly, wondering if he was getting his memories back, "You uh, have good eyes to see that the wood was newer than the rest of the room." She added with a careful controlled tone.

"No," he stated, causing her brows to raise in a mixture of hope and confusion, "No that's not it." he sighed and shook his head, "I don't know how I knew, I just _knew._ "

"It's okay Alphonse." She stated quickly as she took a step towards him, "You're just tired from the train, why don't you go find a room and I'll come find you when dinner is done ok?" she watched him nod at her gentle suggestion, then as he carried the bag he had with him down the hallway to look for a bedroom. She inhaled deeply as she turned back to the kitchen and made her way inside. She wasn't really hungry but she knew that if he was anything like his elder brother then she would need to cook quite a bit to satisfy his appetite.

"I got him home Ed." She whispered to the air, "I got him here safe and sound so you better be next." She smiled at the thought of Edward returning before a heavy feeling of sadness settled into the pit of her stomach. She sighed as she opened the door to her icebox and pulled out a thick cut of ham. She moved about the kitchen, gathering the rest of the ingredients before settling into the easy task of cooking for the two of them. She could hear as a few doors opened and closed towards the end of the hall while she sliced and fried thick pieces of meat from the chunk of ham. Alphonse was having trouble finding a room that he liked apparently, the thought brought a smile to her lips as she continued to cook.

* * *

Alphonse was curled up under the floor lamp in her study when she found him, a plate of fried ham and mixed vegetables in hand that she had placed two pieces of toast and cheese on top of. In her other hand was a cup of milk which she offered him first. He took it without looking up from his book and took a long drink from it before placing it in the floor next to him. She squatted down before him and held the plate of food between him and the book. He blinked as whatever trance that the Elric brothers fell into while reading was broken and smiled up at her as he accepted the plate.

"Thank you!" he exclaimed as he accepted the plate. He moved to lift the fork after setting the book face down on the floor but then he seemed to think better of it as his eyes cut towards the open door to her study.

"You can eat in here." She smiled as she stood and looked towards the door as well, "just try to eat at the desk okay?" she asked as she glanced at him over her shoulder. He smiled and nodded around his first bite of meat before pushing himself to his feet and moving his things to her desk. She walked up to the door then and had one foot in the hall when it occurred to her that he was no longer metal and thus had to sleep at some point. She turned to lean her head towards him once again and added quickly, "Try to get to bed at a decent time okay?"

"I will!" he called out merrily as she headed out of the room and down the hall to the living room once again. Her old radio had been broken during the construction of her foyer and replaced with a smaller one that she cut on before lying across her couch and throwing one arm over her eyes. The news that the new parliament was in turmoil was not new at all to her but still helped by becoming dull background noise as she drifted into sleep.

Meanwhile, Alphonse flipped through the Basics of Alchemy book and smiled around the bite of meat he had wedged in the inside of his cheek like a chipmunk. Memories of the days when his older brother and he would sit in the den of the home they shared with their mother reading that very same title flooded through his mind as he skimmed over the pictures and devoured the words on each page; but those memories that he had of his older brother were before they had tried to bring back their mother, whatever happened after that before and before the after he lived in now was a complete mystery to him. He swallowed the lump of meat as he thought of how unfair it was that people who he did not know seemed to know the Edward of the forbidden zone of his memories. Even Emily got this sad faraway look in her eye when Ed was mentioned and he didn't want to see Emily like that because she was nice, and cute, and smart, and _funny._ She had proved as much during their conversation on the train; and he blushed at the thought, but those things about her made him more than willing to stay in her home. She couldn't have been older than twenty two, and looked much younger to him due to her height and small body type. As he thought over this he decided that he liked short girls, he liked them quite a bit.

(End of Chapter 9: I hope that this chapter was enjoyable for all of you. Please feel free to review and let me know what you would like to see next between the two scenarios below:

1: A continued look at the lives of the ones in Central without Edward

2: A view of how Edward is living in world war 1 Germany.

3: The return of Edward and the love story plot.

4: A mixture of 1 and 2.

Thank you again dear readers, I love you all!

Added-OC)


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10:**

 ** _World War II Germany_**

The Screeching of the alarm that signaled an air raid caused Edward to shoot up from the bed, startling the one lying beside him and causing her to reach out and grab his flesh arm tightly in her hand. He jumped at her touch and turned his bright golden eyes on her half open silver ones.

"Emily we have to get up, it's an air raid." He stated as he reached around with his prosthetic to grasp her wrist and pull her behind him off the bed. They stumbled around the bedroom which was full of her half done paintings and managed to pull on their shoes and coats before forcing their way out into the hall where the tall short haired blonde with bright blue eyes was waiting for them.

"Brother!" Emily Hienric called out as she wrapped him in a tight hug, clearly happy to see her older brother alive and well.

"Hoenhime's already headed to safety." Alphonse Hienric stated as he held his sister by the shoulder and turned his baby blues on Edward, "I have to get to the university, you take Em and get as far away as you can." He stated firmly as he pushed her forward to land against Ed's chest.

"No! I want to go with you!" Edward had to hold Emily back as she reached out trying to wrap her arms around her brother's waist.

"Emily we have to go there is no time to do this." He urged as he pulled her back against him and pushed his way past the large boxes full of different mechanical parts that littered the apartment. She struggled against him as he pushed her out into the quickly crowding street. She wasn't his Emily, not his from home, but after five years of being alone she was the closest thing that he had to the one that he could only hope was waiting for him in his home. These thoughts caused his brow to furrow even more as he dragged her through the crowed city to the safe area that had been predetermined weeks before after the first air raid had rocked the city.

* * *

The alarms sounded in his ears over and over, nearly covering up the sounds of the zeppelins that were steadily boring down on them. The shadows fell over them as they turned off onto the road leading them to the safe zone, but he realized as it came into view that it wasn't a safe zone anymore. Flames and destruction filled his line of vision as he pulled to a stop and gaped at the slaughter before them.

"Edward!?" Emily Hienric cried out over the sounds of the bombs dropping on the building behind them. He turned to her quickly, his eyes wide and his heart racing with a mix of adrenaline and fear. His hand went slack, allowing her arm to fall at her side as yet another bomb crashed nearby them.

"Go to Alphonse." He stated as he turned away from her to rush towards the danger in hopes of helping any survivors that may still be around. His feet slammed against the pavement as he rushed forward, pumping his arms as he leaned forward for some extra speed. The shadow of a Zeppilen fell over him as he turned up the hill towards the safe zone. He didn't have time to think as the sound of the bomb falling towards the earth close to him filled his ears.

* * *

 ** _Meanwhile East Central City, Amestris_**

Roy had always been the patient one, watching over Emily and Alphonse as if he intended to stand in for Edward in their lives. He brought Alphonse books every other weekend when he would stop by to check on him; at the same time he brought Emily small gifts of journals, blank and ready for her pens to fill in with her thoughts and findings. On top of those small public gifts he would bestow upon her, he would also take her out to diners where she could feel free to talk about anything that came to mind. She had grown into a brilliant lovely woman; no longer trapped by her fears and insecurities. She blossomed in more ways than one. She was more open in conversation now, speaking her mind freely without looking for the short blonde who had become her crutch during her teenage years; she had also grown physically, now three inches taller she easily reached his chin. Not to mention her body; her curves had filled out nicely, her once minuscule chest was now fighting against her tops as if it wanted to break free. Roy was a man who excelled at certain things that had to do with measuring with the eye quickly (42 C). he had felt smile threaten to overtake his features when the size had popped into his mind. Her waist line had lost the nearly two inches that her hips had gained, giving her the perfect hourglass figure that he knew caused the other men around her to have the same mouthwatering feeling that he felt when he saw her in her civilian clothes.

That was why he did it, the quick trips to Brios in the dead of night when she couldn't stand being in the house any longer with her lost loves little brother. He knew that she was dreading the day that Alphonse went off on his own, but at the same time she was constantly living in the Hell that Edward Elric had left in his wake. When she was with him, he could make her forget that she had her heart broken so soon after finding love for the first time in her young life. He made it his mission to make her smile every time he took her to dinner, and every time he dropped her off at her front stoop with only a quickly whispered goodbye he felt himself being pulled towards her even more by the invisible string around his heart.

* * *

On the night of her twenty second birthday she called him on his home phone number in tears again over something that Alphonse had done that would only remind her of Edward. He rushed right over and met her at her front step and allowed her to fall into his arms as the sobbing mess that whatever innocent thing that Alphonse had done had turned her into. He drove as quickly as he could to his own home instead of allowing her to embarrass herself at a restaurant. As they pulled up to his driveway her eyes grew wide in surprise and she turned quickly to gaze at him from their tear filled depths.

"It's your birthday." He stated softly as he patted her knee with a gentle smile, "At least let this old man cook for you." She smiled and crossed her arms even as the tears continued to stream down her cheeks.

"You're not that old." She stated softly , it was his turn to smile then as he pulled his keys from the ignition and slipped them into his long dark black coat pocket. She took this as a sign to exit his car and stand awkwardly in his driveway. He smiled as he walked around the car and took her hand in his own. There was only the slightest moment of hesitation (which felt like forever to him) before she closed her fingers around his and allowed him to lead her into the large home he had acquired soon after he had gained the rank of General.

The house was huge, and empty Emily noticed as he took her coat and hung it on the waiting coat rack in his very large foyer. She followed him through the archway that lead into a sitting room with a beautiful large fireplace surrounded by an intricately designed mantel piece that held images of flames that seemed to eat away at the very wood they were carved from.

"Just take a seat anywhere," he said as he placed a disk on his old phonograph. Slow jazz drifted into the room as she sank into a large armchair the color of burnt toast, "I'll make us something to eat and drink and we can talk okay?" he added as he headed towards what she presumed to be the kitchen. As he left her line of sight she began to think of how lonely he must be in this large house all by himself and that maybe that was the reason he doted on Alphonse and herself so much. At work he never seemed as lonely as he must have truly been. She had thought that she must have picked up on it during the dinners where she had thought he had pulled himself away from this fantasy wild party boy life she had imagined for him, but maybe he had rushed to her so quickly because perhaps he was just as lonely, if not more so than she was.

Close to an hour passed by as she sat alone in the large room, listening to the clanking and soft cursing that signified that Roy was busily preparing their dinner. She giggled at the sounds that he made and wiped the tears from her eyes as she began to calm down. Alphonse had been growing his hair out and had put it up in a short hair bow, the sight of him like that has sent her running to the comfort of Roy's company which, now that she calmed down a little bit, seemed to have been just another overreaction on her part. She sighed as she leaned back in his chair while she wondered what Alphonse was doing at home alone for the third time that week. She knew he would grow tired of her constantly running off on him but she couldn't help it, every time he did something remotely similar to his elder brother she lost it and ran to Roy for comfort.

"Dinner is served." Roy called out as his head appeared in the arched doorway of the living room. She smiled and stood, ready to push Alphonse to the back of her mind for a few hours.

"Smells good." She stated as she stepped past him and into the dining room. The table had been set as if this was a first date and he wanted to impress her. She snickered and covered her face with her hands for a moment before turning to look at him, "You really went all out huh?" she asked as she turned away from him before taking a seat at the table. Roy scratched at the spot where his eyepatch rubbed against his nose and looked away from her shyly. He followed her casually to sit in the seat beside her. Wine was poured and the conversation stretched on long after the dinner was finished.

"So you freaked out because he decided to pull his hair back? You can't keep him looking like a sister forever you know." Roy chuckled as he poured her fourth glass of wine.

"He could just cut it if it bothers him so much." She answered as she frowned down at the deep red liquid in her glass. He chuckled once again and ran his hand through his thick black hair before letting it fall once again in his eyes. His shirt had been unbuttoned about halfway at one point and she found herself studying the lines that the burn marks left upon his skin after the fight between him and the Homunculus that had once been the leader of their country. She bit her bottom lip as she forced her eyes away from his chest. The glass felt cool against her lips as she downed the liquid that she could no longer taste.

"He's just expressing himself." Roy sighed as he leaned forward to close the space between them. She smiled and shrugged as she held out her glass for more. In response he held up the empty bottle and shrugged causing her to laugh for no known reason.

* * *

She didn't know how it happened or why, she only knew that seconds after she had begun to laugh his lips were on hers and she was allowing them to move against her own as she in turn moved her against his. It started off as soft and cautious before deepening and causing her head to tilt slightly as his hands slipped into her hair. The air between them grew hot as her eyes slipped closed and her own hands reached up to grasp his shirt as if it were a life raft in turbulent seas. It felt good to kiss again after six years of waiting, it was relieving to find that the feelings that had been buried so deeply in her all that time could still find their way to the surface. She could feel herself finally allowing herself to let go of the blonde who she could only assume was either dead or far away from her living his own life with his own new love who he would use to forget her.

She was crying before she pulled away from him and hid her face in her hands. The rush of depression that filled her had her running from the room before he could even react. By the time he had shaken off his initial feeling of disbelief and managed to make it out of the room to find her she had already hung up the phone in his front room and was busily pulling her coat on over her arms.

"I have to go I am so sorry." She stammered as she turned to open his front door.

"But wait, what, wait!" he called out as he rushed behind her out of his door. She was already halfway down his driveway and well on her way to the waiting cab that she had called to pick her up.

"I'm sorry!" she shouted over the distance between them as she slipped into the cab. At this point his neighbors were beginning to come out to see what all the commotion was about. In his embarrassment he banished himself into his home to hide away from their peering eyes. He would have to see her at work the next day after all, it would be hard enough then without the knowledge of his neighbors retorts to her quickly ditching him in his own lawn fresh in his mind.

* * *

 ** _World War II Germany_**

The bomb had not fallen exactly on top of him, but had hit close enough for his prosthetic leg to shatter into millions of mechanical parts that he could never hope to put back together. He pulled himself along the cracked and scorching hot ground, half blind and deaf due to his ringing ears as he tried to get to a place of safety. The world shook around him as yet another bomb fell nearby, but due to the state he was in he could not tell where it had landed. His arm burned as the shards of a nearby car buried themselves deeply in his skin. All he could think was that this was his end, he would never see his brother or Emily or any of his friends from his home again. He would die in a world he did not belong to without anyone that he cared about.

As he was thinking this the image of Alphonse Hienric appeared before him. He was shouting something that Edward could not hear and waving his arms frantically before him without moving towards him. Edward could not understand why the man was not moving to safety or even to him to help him up so they could both get to the elusive safe zone that he knew no longer existed.

While he was pondering these things he had been slowly crawling towards Alphonse in hopes of reaching him before yet another bomb dropped anywhere near them. He did not notice the ground falling away beneath him until it was too late, and then he was falling head over ass down a hole that did not seem to end. A flash of white caused him to close his eyes against its glare; now blind and deaf he tumbled through the air for longer than it should have taken him to reach the bottom of the sewer system below the city. When he finally hit the ground it was not the hard brick that he knew made up the sewers of the city he had been living in for the past six years. It was warm and metal and bent around his body as he crashed into it.

* * *

 ** _Central City, Amestris_**

The car came to a sudden screeching halt causing Havoc to be flung against the steering wheel. His first date in nearly six months had been going well but he suddenly found himself cursing whichever higher being hated him having any form of a sex life. The short blonde beside him was screaming bloody murder and pointing to the hood of his new car which had bent over itself with a bloody white and blonde mass at the center of the half loop it had formed. Steam and smoke was streaming into the air in large billowing clouds around it letting him know that they did not have long before the car would be on fire and he had to help whichever poor sap had gotten caught in his hood. He cursed as he shoved the drunk girl out of the car and followed her to the side of the road before running around to check on the poor bastard who was about to buy him a new vehicle.

"Son of a bitch I have to be having some sort of nightmare." He muttered as the cigarette he had been chewing on fell from between his lips. He rushed quickly to pull the broken hunk of flesh from the bent metal while shouting for his date to find a phone box and call for an ambulance. As he shouted he could feel the shorter blonde man shift in his arms which made his sinking heart stop halfway to his stomach.

"Hurry up! He's alive!" he shouted in frustration as he pulled the mangled man away from the wreckage of his broken car. She rushed to follow his commands as he laid the poor bastard out on the sidewalk and covered his form with his own long brown coat. The man had half of his left leg intact and thick shards of metal running up his left arm which gushed bright red blood out in streams that stained the concreate below them.

"I'll be damned." The first lieutenant chuckled as he pulled a fresh smoke from his pack and lit it with his fancy lighter that he had received as a promotion gift from the General, "The poor bastard found his way home after all."

(End of Chapter 10: Sorry for the long wait dear readers, I had trouble getting all my ideas out in this chapter and even now there are a lot of points that I couldn't fit in. I hope you enjoyed this chapter and I will try to put them out on a much more frequent basis. As always please Review all your thoughts and ideas. I will try to work in any suggestions you may have but I can't do it if you guys don't tell me. I love you all and once again I hope you enjoyed this chapter.)


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11:

Emily walked through her front door right as the phone in her study began to ring. She threw her coat on the floor and rushed to it, ready to make up excuses to an angry and possibly sexually frustrated General. She met Alphonse in the hall and knew immediately that he had not slept at all that night. She stood for a moment unsure of what to say to the boy as the ringing continued.

"We should get that." Alphonse broke the silence as he turned to the study door. She nodded as she followed him through it. He had the phone off the receiver and pressed against the side of his head before she had even made it inside the room. His eyes were downcast and he mas nodding slowly to whoever was on the other side. She bit her lip and leaned against the doorway as she watched the blonde look around the room rather than at her. She could hear her heart in her ears as she wondered who he could possibly be speaking to. If it was Roy then she would have a long talk with him, she knew that Alphonse had grown too protective of her to let the man get away with what had happened but she needed everything to go back to normal as soon as possible in order for her to be able to move on from what she was chalking up to being the worst birthday in her life.

"Yeah, I understand. I'll be normal I promise." She heard him say as he shot her a quick glance before turning away from her and folding his arms over his chest, "I could catch a cab and be right over. Emily just got in so I don't know if I could ask her to-" a short pause where she watched his hair shift as he nodded in short spurts as he listened to whoever was speaking, "Yeah no, I know it's just, it's her birthday and I don't think it should be spoiled by this." He turned to look at her over his shoulder as he listened to the unknown person's reply, "Look I'll be right over okay. Just tell the doctors I am on my way please." He hung up the phone and moved around her desk as she shot him a quizzical stare. His eyes did not meet hers as he bent his head forward.

"Wait." She said as she reached out and snatched him up by the arm. He stopped and turned to her, causing her to gasp as she finally saw the tears in his eyes.

"I have to go." He choked out before looking away from her once again.

"Alphonse," she began as she clutched onto his sleeve even tighter.

"I HAVE TO GO!" he shouted as he pulled away from her. Her heart broke as she felt her world crashing down around her once again. He knew, he had to know what happened and he hated her for it. Surely it was Roy who had called him. He must have gotten into an accident chasing after her and was calling from the hospital. He must have asked about her and Alphonse didn't want to bring her along while he visited with his favorite General.

"Roy kissed me." She stated quickly, unsure of what else to say.

"What?" Alphonse looked visibly shaken by her confession.

"Well He kissed me and I kissed back and I think it may have been a really bad idea." She stammered as she looked down at her feet.

"Emily I don't think this is the time for that conversation, though I really think this is a conversation you should have with him." Alphonse stammered as he looked away from her awkwardly, "I have to go to the hospital to meet Havoc."

"Why is havoc at the hospital?" she took a step back as he walked through the doorway.

"It has nothing to do with you really, will you call Winry to see if she can make the morning train to Central?" he asked as he led her down the hall.

"Nothing to do with me, wait call Winry?" she asked as they walked into the living room. He grabbed the worn red coat from the back of their couch before turning towards the foyer and searching the wall hooks for his house keys.

"Look this is nothing to do with you and that's that. It's a family matter okay." He stated as he pulled his keys from the hook and pulled the sleeves over his arms, letting the thick red fabric fall over his shoulders before pulling at the collar to straighten it.

"FAMILY MATTER?" she demanded loudly, "I THOUGHT I WAS YOUR FAMILY ALPHONSE!" her shouts could easily be heard outside of her house.

"EDWARDS BACK!" he screamed his answer causing her to sink back away from him, "Edward showed up somehow and broke Havoc's car." He sighed as he ran his hand through his hair, "I have to go see him Emily, I promise I will be back home before you go to work tomorrow." He stated softly as he turned towards the door. Her head was pounding with the beat of her heart and she felt as if her ears were full of water as she sank down onto the floor. The words 'Edwards Back' repeated over and over in her mind as the room began to swirl around her.

She couldn't take it; the kiss, her running out on Roy, her freaking out over Alphonse changing his look in the slightest bit, Edward. She could feel a lump crawling up her throat as visions of the night flashed through her mind. She rushed to the bathroom and fell to her knees before the toilet. Everything she had that night came burning its way up her throat as she retched over and over into the white porcelain bowl. Tears formed in her eyes as a mixture of sickness and pain rocked her body. She fell to the cold tile floor as the tears continued to pour down her cheeks.

She wanted to go to him but she couldn't; Alphonse didn't know that she even knew him, and she didn't deserve to be in his presence at all. She couldn't wait just another day before she attempted to let him go. She should have waited, she should have just stayed at home that night, then she would have been in her study, drawing up arrays for helping grow human organs from base materials rather than getting drunk and utterly stupid at the house of one of the most respected friends she had.

She pulled herself up by using the lip of the tub for support and leaned over the side of it as she dry heaved into its wide depths. Her head hurt and her throat burned as she hung onto the tub for support. Her mind swam with the incomprehensible thoughts that caused it to feel as if it would explode from the pressure.

* * *

Alphonse rushed into the hospital out of breath and with a face so red that it matched a ripe tomato. He slid to a stop at reception and blurted out his brother's name repeatedly until one of the frazzled and nervous looking nurses finally gave in and offered to show him to the room. He did not wait for her to open the door and instead pushed past her and flung it open himself. The first face he saw was Havoc, sleep deprived and clearly in need of the smokes which he inhaled more than oxygen. The older blonde officer stopped him and pulled him to the side of the room where he could not see his brother due to the curtain that separated them.

"Al, I am never the voice of reason but I have to be right now." Jean's eyes were sharp and worry filled as they stared down Alphonse who was bouncing from foot to foot as he attempted to look over the man's shoulders, "He was hurt pretty bad. His arm was full of shrapnel and his leg is pretty much destroyed but the doctors said the injuries to his head and torso are heal able and not life threatening. He does owe me a car but we can worry about that later."

"Mr. Havoc sir can I please see my brother? I have been waiting for six years to see him and you said he just fell out of the sky." Alphonse whined as he tried to shift around the man.

"Well, you are an Elric so I guess hard heads run in the family." He sighed as he moved to the side and allowed the sixteen year old to rush past him. Al just about slammed into the hospital bed while trying to get to his brother quickly. His voice caught in his throat as he looked on at his sleeping brother, who was nearly completely covered by thick white plaster that formed his casts. His right arm and left leg was just gone and his face was a massive bruise. His blood ran cold as he grasped ahold of the foot of the bed and forced the bile in his throat down. His brother, his hero, was utterly broken and laying on the bed before him in a mass of cuts and bruises that was nearly indistinguishable.

"Alphonse?" Havoc asked softly as he gently laid a hand on the poor boy's shoulder. Alphonse jumped and turned to him as tears filled his eyes until they ran down his cheeks in two thick streams.

"Is it really him?" he asked as a series of sobs rolled from his throat.

"It's him Al, but it's not him at the same time." Havoc squatted down beside him and rubbed his shoulders gently, "you'll see, when he is all healed up and back to his usual hot tempered quick witted self." He smiled as he attempted to reassure the young boy.

"He came home." Alphonse smiled around his tears as he looked up into the blue eyes of his superior. A smile crossed Havoc's lips as he helped the young boy up and allowed him to lean against his side as he turned him slightly away from the sight of his broken brother.

"Now once Emily gets in here we can talk about what to do once he can leave the hospital." Havoc led him over to the window that looked out on the city as he spoke.

"She won't be coming." Alphonse sighed as he ran his hand through his bangs and looked down, "I just wanted this to be a family matter you know, take him back home to Resembool and let him be around the people he knows and loves while he recovers." He shrugged and looked up to Havocs face as he spoke, "you know what I mean?" he asked as he shrugged.

"But Emily is-" Havoc was cut off suddenly by a loud cough that came from a tall blonde haired brown eyed Colonel who seemed very aggravated with the First Lieutenant at that moment.

"Colonel Hawkeye!" Alphonse exclaimed as he turned to face her, "What are you doing here?" he asked in a mixture of happiness and surprise.

"Well, I heard a certain young AWOL Alchemist showed up in his usual way and had to come down and check for myself." She stated as she pulled a piece of lint off of her uniform jacket, "Has the General shown up yet?" she added as she stared down Havoc.

"No Sir, Ma'am, Sir." Havoc stuttered as he snapped into an awkward salute. She smirked a bit before returning it with one of her own and turned her eyes on Alphonse.

"Elric, Hagraven is an important part of your life, a bigger part than you realize and a part that would make your brother very happy to see once again. No matter what you think would be good for him, you should wait to see what he thinks is best for him." She motioned towards where he lay in the hospital bed as she spoke, "Perhaps you should just bring your family here to Central for a while. I hear that your home has a few spare rooms, it should be more than adequate."

"But he's my brother," Alphonse stated in a soft squeak. She sighed and shook her head as she looked down at her feet. Alphonse looked between her and the nervous looking Havoc as the sweat covered the poor man's brow.

"Alphonse, he is her boyfriend." Hawkeye stated in her 'I am tired of this' tone. Alphonse looked up to her quickly with his eyes wide and his mouth agape.

"No he's not." He stated after a long moment of stunned silence.

"Maybe you should ask her about that," Havoc shrugged as he awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck. Al looked between them as his confusion turned into anger and the hairs on the back of his neck rose along with the bile in his throat.

"But, but Emily isn't his girlfriend. She's the Generals girlfriend." He stated in disbelief. It was time for both of the older blondes to look at each other over his head in disbelief. Havoc reached into his pocket to pull out his pack of smokes only to slide it back into his shirt pocket when he noticed the quick chiding glare from Hawkeye.

"I think if Roy had a girlfriend then he would be a bit more energetic." Havoc chuckled as the silence between the three of them stretched on into the awkward zone.

"I will call the General." Hawkeye turned on her heel and stepped out of the room as Alphonse followed behind her stammering and stuttering around the words that were clear in his mind but did not seem to find their way to his tongue. Havoc watched them leave the room as he reached into his shirt pocket and pulled out his pack of smokes.

"Emily?" the soft voice that did not sound quite like Edward drifted from where he lay on the bed.

"Not here boss." Havoc sighed as he leaned against the window behind him.

"Al-Alphonse?" Edward managed to croak out around the plaster covering half of his lower jaw.

"Just missed him." Jean Havoc was busily attempting to lift the window up behind himself as he clenched a cigarette between his teeth in frustration. He heard the blonde groan softly as the beeping from the machine beside his bed began to intensify from a slow drawn out drone to a quick paced beeping that grew higher and higher in pitch as it went along.

"Nurse." He said as the cigarette fell from his lips to land on the ground at his feet, "Nurse!" he called a bit louder as the pitch in the beeping continued to rise, "NURSE!" he screamed as he rushed through the door out into the hallway. Alphonse appeared at his side and wasted no time in rushing into the room to be by his brothers side while Havoc attempted to get anyone else's attention so that he could get help. He ran into Hawkeye and simply waved and pointed to Edwards door as he stuttered around the first two letters of the word 'help' while she looked at him in confusion and slight shock.

"First lieutenant Havoc please remember who you represent and speak _clearly."_ She stated firmly as she grabbed him by the shoulders in order to make it easier for her to look into his face.

"FullMetal, needs, help." He huffed between deep intakes of breath that he took in order to calm his pounding heart. He grabbed his chest as if he could physically stop his heart from pounding in his ears. The sounds from Edwards room cut out sharply causing the blonde male to jump and let out a terrified squeak as he turned to look over his shoulder at the door, "Oh no." he whispered as he turned to rush back into the room before being yanked back sharply by Hawkeye's hand.

"You need to calm down First Lieutenant Havoc, the doctors are trained to help in situations like FullMetal's and his brother is there to care for him as well. You aren't helping out anyone by losing your mind over the sound a machine makes so you should calm down before I am forced to calm you down." He gulped down the large lump that formed in his throat as he remembered the fire arms that his superior so loved to wear close at her sides at all times.

"I'm calm." He squeaked out as he pulled away from her. The woman sighed as she rubbed the bridge of her nose between her finger and thumb as she watched him stumble into the room behind the doctors and Alphonse. She turned to the phone that was built into the wall alongside four other phones and let out a short breath of annoyance as she thought of the General and just how excited he would be after waiting for so long for Edward to return.

She stepped quickly over to the phone and dialed the Generals number as she looked out for anyone who she would have to keep an eye on. With Edwards return the complications in her life were piling on top of each other. She would have to manage to keep it a secret from the rest of her subordinates and many of the higher ups while figuring out how to get him from the hospital to wherever he was going. She would have to stop Alphonse from telling everyone that his brother was back and at the same time would have to figure out a way to stop Emily as well even though she was not technically her superior any longer. The phone rang in her ear as she worried over all of the sudden problems that she knew she would have to deal with.

"Hello. This is General Roy Mustang." The drunken voice of her superior slurred over the line as she held the phone slightly away from her ear and squeezed one eye shut as if he could actually spit in it over the phone, "If you are some _girl_ who isn't even that good at _cooking_ and decided to up and _run out_ on me I only have one thing to say to you," there was a pause in which she could almost see his wheels coming to a stop as the alcohol filled his brain, "I have nothing to say to you so there." She sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose between her thumb and finger once again as she silently begged whatever higher being controlled her life to just cut her a break tonight.

"General Mustang Sir," she went into a salute even though she knew he could not see her, "This is Colonel Hawkeye requesting a meeting with you as soon as possible to go over the reappearance of top secret personnel who we both should put our men out in the cold about." She stated in her monotone voice that she only used for speaking to higher ups and Roy when he was drunk.

"Riza" he cried out, somehow managing to drag out her first name and causing him to sound a lot like a broken hearted schoolboy, "She just ran out of my house after I kissed her, just ran away." He broke down into a fit of sobbing halfway through the second just, yet surprisingly to her still managed to finish his sentence.

"General, Sir, I do have important information that is only for your ears sir. Could we meet up say in two hours to discuss the happenings that have led me to my conclusions?" she asked as she held back a frustrated sigh. If he would have been right in front of her she would have just shot something nearby his head to get his attention and that would have been that. Over the phone she had less impact on the conversation than she had hoped she would.

"Meet me at Brios Hawkeye, by the way, you are an officer and and and-" there was another pause as she listened to him sounding out words as he struggled to find the right one.

"An officer and a Gentleman Sir." She stated in a flat angry tone.

"Why thank you Riza, at least someone appreciates me for who I am." There was a loud bang from the other side of the phone followed by, "I'm okay I'm okay, just the phonograph."

"I'm coming over sir." She stated with a sigh just before she hung up the phone on his indistinguishable reply. She would have to clean up that mess first, both literally and figuratively. She moved to poke her head in the recovery room door and tapped Havoc, who had been hovering in said door, on the shoulder.

"I'm about to go check up on the General. Keep an eye on the Elrics for me and I will send Fury to check on Emily." She gave him a stern look as she spoke which caused him to snap into yet another awkward salute.

"yes ma'am, Sir, Ma'am." He looked like he was about to blow a fuse so she just returned his salute and left them there to deal with Edward.

* * *

"I am sure that if you just explain your situation and ask him to forget it then he won't even think about that kiss." Emily smiled as she listened to Fury stumble over his words while she passed him a cup of steaming coffee. They sat across from each other in her living room with the coffee table separating them by a good foot and a half. She had apologized when she made him sit so far away from her but she did not exactly trust the men in her life at that moment, nor her reaction to them.

"I don't know, I just ran out on him. Kiss or no kiss that's just not polite." She sighed as she carefully lifted the cup to her lips and took a tentative sip from it. The hot liquid scorched the back of her throat causing her to cough and hack as she attempted not to inhale the scalding liquid.

"Well I mean, you were drunk right, I'm sure the guy won't even remember tonight if he had as much wine as you said he did." Fury stuttered as he swirled the black coffee around the cup. She noticed that after her reaction to the drink that he was reluctant to try it himself, "Did you call Winry like Al asked you to?" he asked as he looked up at her.

"Yeah, I explained the uh, situation, and she said that her and her granny would be here in four days and that she just needed a day to pack all of her equipment up." She took another small sip as she looked down at her feet while the silence fell between them.

Fury sighed and placed his cup down on the table between them without touching a sip of the liquid inside. Emily was busy twirling the liquid around her own cup while she tried to think of something to say that would clear the awkward air that had grown around them. She was used to being quiet together with Alphonse because they were usually doing their own thing and didn't have time to talk to each other. She was usually busy trying to grow organs and he was busy trying to find a way to get his brother back. Somehow she knew that now that half of their pass times were gone that the silences would be just as awkward between the two of them as it was for Fury and herself at that moment. She did not know how the time had passed without her telling him what had happened in those years that he did not remember. At first she had always been on edge about how to tell him, then as time went on it just became easier and easier to ignore it entirely. One day she just didn't even think about it anymore and it was just that much easier to go about her days without worrying about Edward being brought up in their conversations. Alphonse simply assumed she did not know his older brother and it was surprisingly easy to just play along.

"Is Alphonse hurt? Did you break your foot?" he asked as he leaned forward to study her, pulling her from her thoughts as she was forced to study his spectacled face. She searched her mind quickly for any hint of what to say but just kept coming back to the last conversation she had with the youngest Elric brother.

"No, it's nothing like that. It's just, you know, a family thing. I'm not even involved in it." she stated with a forced chuckle that sounded the part. Fury looked down as she drug the chuckle out for far too long before finally allowing it to die out as she took another sip from her cup.

"I thought you were like his overprotective big sister." Havoc stated as he watched her fumble with the half full cup.

"Apparently I am not close enough to him to be considered his family. Alphonse Elric is very selective." Havoc had to hand it to her, Emily's voice only had the slightest traces of venomous sarcasm running through it as she replied to him.

"Are you sure you're going to be okay Hagraven?" Fury asked as he raised one eyebrow towards the top of his head.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Um you know me I can get through anything. Al is just being a bit of an antsy teen right now and I mean who hasn't been there right?" she tried to hide her nervousness with a chuckle as her mind raced at the thought of losing both of the brothers without even getting to see Edwards face again. She had told Al that she and Roy had kissed, he would tell Edward and that would be it. He was at the hospital so she knew Edward was hurt somehow, possibly very badly and now he would be hurt more by her idiotic actions.

"Well, things may look bad now but that doesn't mean they won't get better. My granny used to say 'everything has a happy ending, so if you aren't happy it's not over yet.'" He stuttered out as he shyly looked around her home; with Alphonse's help her home had gained an air of an educated gentleman's office instead of the once cozy feeling it brought on whenever he had stepped inside. He missed the thick hand knitted quilt that she had bought off of a beggar woman while strolling through town that used to cover the couch, and the mix matched decorative tea set that had been broken not long before by Alphonse while he was practicing his alchemy. The feminist touches that had always been there from the moment the house had become hers had been blended with the traces of a teenage boy who had not quite learned what clean really was yet.

"Not all the time. Most of the time the big ending is sad and full of pain and guilt and just leaves you feeling hallow inside." She sighed as she moved to sit in the rocking chair that had once belonged to her grandmother. Fury watched as she ran a hand over the side of her face in a downward motion to end at her bottom lip which she pulled down as she looked upwards towards the ceiling.

"Look I know you took Edward disappearing harder than most of us, but I thought that you were getting over it." Fury tilted his head as he spoke slowly and carefully to her.

"Yeah, well life won't just let me be will it?" she asked as she stood and stomped her way into the kitchen, "See yourself out." She called as she leaned against the wall that separated the kitchen from the living room. She sighed and allowed herself to slide down the wall to sit in the floor as she listened to her front door open and close. Her hand reached up to grasp her chest as she tilted her head forward to rest against her bent knees.

* * *

Four days went by without Alphonse coming back home. Emily wandered around the house like a ghost that did not know what left it chained to the world of the living. She wanted to go see Edward but she didn't want to get in the way of the brothers reunion. She received phone calls from Alphonse regularly from the hotel room near the hospital where they had decided to stay in order to be closer to Ed. She would listen to long conversations about how his brother had been healing and how he couldn't wait for them to go home to Resenbool to where his brother could heal up properly surrounded by his loved ones. These long conversations where followed up by short conversations with Winry where she just cried while the girl quietly consoled her while hiding in the hotel room bathroom from Alphonse so he wouldn't find out. She wanted so badly to just tell him that she needed to see Edward just as badly as they did but the words were lost in her mind as soon as he began to talk.

"He knows you know, about you and Edward." Winry said one night after a particularly long session where she ran out of tears and just set there in silence for a long while.

"What do you mean he knows?" she croaked out around her sore and very dry throat.

"Well Hawkeye told him out of the blue the first day he was at the hospital, he told us a few days ago but I just couldn't think of how to tell you." She could hear Winry sigh from the other end of the phone and furrowed her brow as she frowned.

"Well you certainly figured out how to say it didn't you?" she ordered as loudly as she could into the receiver.

"And what about you? Alphonse is confused about this because you told him that you kissed Mr. Mustang." Winry's voice was strained as it filled her ear.

"I, I don't know I think he kissed me or maybe I, I was drunk." She stammered as she twirled the phone cord around her finger.

"You were drunk, is that what you're going to tell Ed?" Winry asked causing her eyes to grow wide and her bottom lip to quiver.

"It's been six years." She stammered, "I- I thought he was dead or, or moved on from us for some unknown reason."

"I am really not the one you should be making excuses to." Winry sighed as if Emily was beginning to get on her nerves. Emily knew the conversation was about to end and that it was unlikely there would be another one for a long time.

"I need to see Ed." She breathed as she closed her eyes against the stinging which was all she could manage after crying so much.

"Took you long enough to figure that out." Even over the phone Emily could tell that Winry was scoffing at her, "We are taking Alphonse out to eat tomorrow at noon, you should try to see him then since he is going in and out of consciousness now."

"Thanks." Emily attempted to keep her voice even but it came out as a strained whisper.

"Yeah, I am not doing it for you." Winry stated before hanging up on her. Emily slowly placed the phone on the receiver as her head fell forward. She knew that Winry had feelings for Edward that surfaced shortly after his disappearance but she had hoped that they would be able to remain friends even through it, and they had at least until she made the biggest mistake of her life on her birthday. She sat back in her chair as the feeling of emptiness engulfed her. She had to tell Edward everything and take whatever he gave her, at least then she could keep what was left of her dignity at that point. She only hoped that he would forgive her for letting him go, she didn't deserve him taking her back.

* * *

(End of Chapter 11: I am sorry for the long wait once again. This chapter was hard for me to write because I kept writing and rewriting out ways that it could have gone. In the next chapter she will confront Ed and secrets will be revealed. I hope you are still with me loyal readers. I still write for love even if it seems like I am being an evil little shit. The next chapter will probably be a short one and I hope I can get everything worked out enough for the lemony scene I have reserved. As always please review and let me know how I am doing! Love you all my dear readers!)


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12:

It was raining the next day as Emily approached the military hospital where Edward was being treated. She had a box of noodles and meat sauce from Brios under one arm and a thick black umbrella in her other hand. The mud that had managed to spill over onto the sidewalk sloshed under her feet as she made her way slowly around to the visitor's entrance of the building. Her eyes were bloodshot from crying the night before and her lips stayed dry no matter how many times she worked the saliva around her tongue and licked them. She was full of nervous energy that reminded her of when she had tried for her State Alchemist title. Her hand that held the umbrella shook as she entered the archway that lead up to the big double doors leading into the hospital. She wondered if Alphonse had told Edward already and if that would be that bad of a thing. If Edward knew she wouldn't have to try to force the words out of her sore dry throat and instead could beg forgiveness from him right away. If she played her cards right then they might end up as friends instead of him hating her for the rest of her life.

She sighed as she clutched the box closer to her side and stepped into the doors, dropping her umbrella off in the bin by them before making her way to the reception desk. The woman sitting behind it was in her late forties and looked as if she had no patience for anyone else that day. As she approached the woman looked her over before raising an eyebrow and returning to her nails which she was filing meticulously as she studied the papers on the desk before her.

"Um, which room is Edward Elric in?" she asked as she bounced from foot to foot nervously. The woman gave her a glare that said she was already fed up with her questions and reached down to open a drawer on the side of her desk. She shuffled through the papers quickly before pulling out a thick file and opening it to the final page.

"Elric, E deceased six years ago. What a surprise. Do you need help from floor four?" she smacked her lips as she gave Emily a once over very slowly. She gritted her teeth and clenched her fists as she watched the woman scan her from top to bottom with her eyes. She let out an angry breath through her nose as she looked down to try to calm herself before looking back up at the woman.

"Listen there was a John Doe admitted here five days ago by an officer named Jean Havoc. He has prosthetic limbs and blonde hair. I was told that he was really banged up." She nearly growled the words as she clenched onto the edge of the desk.

"Do I need to call security?" the woman asked as she lifted the phone from its receiver on the end of her desk. Emily opened her mouth to shout out her retort but was cut short by a familiar and very welcome voice.

"Emily! Hey there you are. Winry told me you would be coming so I thought I would watch out for you." Havoc smiled as he placed his hand on her shoulder and pulled her close to his side, "She's with me Merideth." He added with a small nod.

"My name is Bethany." The woman frowned as she looked up at him.

"Bye, thanks MERIDETH." Emily gave the woman a cocky smile as she allowed Havoc to turn her around and lead her towards the stairs. She only glanced back once to see the woman furiously filing her nails as she stared her down with hate filled eyes. Havoc chuckled softly as he pushed her ahead of him while shaking his head.

The trip up the stairs seemed even longer as the feeling of her stomach being left behind on the bottom floor overtook her. She leaned back on Havocs hands as he forced her up each step in turn until she was faced with the third floor hallway. At this point Havoc stepped around her and grabbed her by her free arm to drag her towards door 307. It was at the far end of the hall, a corner room with windows to the outside on two walls and his bed against the other. There was a window that led out into the hall on the other wall where she could look through onto the scene. She clutched the box of takeout in between her hands to stop them from shaking as she watched him watch the sky outside of the largest window. His hair was down around his shoulders and his new automail arm was resting across his lap while his automail foot bounced lightly on the pillow that was placed under his legs while his flesh limbs were fully casted in thick white plaster and gauze that seemed to be in need of a change.

"I should go back to work now." Havoc stated before coughing into his hand. He patted her shoulder once before leaving her alone in front of his room. She bit her bottom lip as she watched him go and turned to the door. Her heart pounded in her ears as she reached up to knock lightly upon the wood of the door that separated her from him.

"I SAID I DIDN'T WANT YOUR DAMN MILK!" she smiled at the sound of his voice as he shouted in the way that she was so used to him using against the General and occasionally his 'granny'. She pushed the door open slowly and peeked inside as he turned to face her. His mouth fell open slightly as his eyes grew wide and his head leaned back slightly in his shock.

"Don't worry, I don't really like milk either. It good in coffee though." She said without thinking. He smiled then and she felt a small sense of relief flood her mind. That was before the image of a drunken Roy overtook her thoughts and caused her smile to slip into a frown that caused her brow to crease.

"Hey, it's not so bad, trust me I look worse than I feel. Hell my right arm doesn't even hurt." He chuckled awkwardly as she looked down and tried to force herself to smile. She moved slowly into the room holding the box out like an offering to him. His nose twitched and she knew he smelled the spicy meat sauce that covered the noodles in the white to-go box.

"I thought you would be fed up with hospital food." She stated with a nervous smile.

"Thank you so much." He stated as he reached out for the box, his metal fingers twitching wantonly. She passed the box over to him and sat down in the wheeled chair beside the bed. He gladly dived into the offered food with all the gusto of a starving man. The time ticked by as she struggled with what to say to him and listened to him making the most joyous sounds she had heard in a long time. When he put the plastic fork down to take a breath she looked up to see him frowning down at the slowly cooling food in his lap. She could see the stress behind his eyes as he stared down the congealing sauce in the corner of the square white plate. Her mouth fell open as she tried to force the words that she needed to say out.

"Emily I need to talk to you." He said quickly causing her mouth to snap shut as she watched him look towards the window rather than at her. She felt her heart drop as the thought of him not even being able to look at her while he told her what he knew.

"No Ed, I know, I need to tell you this while I still can." She stated as she held up one hand as if to defend herself against the hatred that she knew was about to come her way.

"But wait Emily who-"

"I kissed Roy." She could feel the words coming out of her mouth like vomit, her stomach turned as she watched his face carefully as he turned to face her.

Then, he laughed.

It was laughter that was deep and breathy at the same time, the kind that left the one laughing out of breath and stuck in a phase where they were shaking without making any noise and did not seem to be breathing either. Her eyes grew wide as she watched him clutch at his chest and close his eyes against the force of his laughter. She could feel her pulse in her ears as her hands clenched into fists on her lap.

"Edward?" she asked softly as her brow furrowed while she studied his face that was slowly calming down.

"Oh, man I am sorry it's just," he broke into a fit of chuckles before continuing, "You seriously kissed Roy, Roy Mustang, Roy 'I can't keep a girl because I have no game' Mustang?" he hid his smile behind his hand as he looked down.

"He has a little game." She said with a frown.

"You were drunk weren't you?" he asked as he looked up at her. She furrowed her brow as her frown deepened further.

"Yes, but that wasn't the point." She stated sourly.

"I actually um, I have sort of the same story." He rubbed the back of his neck as he looked back at the window and let out a deep sigh, "This isn't as easy to say as you made it look." He stated as he chuckled nervously and continued to rub the nape of his neck.

"Well it wasn't that easy." She stated, suddenly she was sixteen again and he was telling her to draw those damn circles because he was mad at her for showing up late due to Jericho's phone calls. She felt a rush of anger wash over her as the memories overtook her. She turned to stand but only made it halfway upright before his metal hand wrapped around her wrist and stopped her dead in her tracks.

"I'm sorry," he said as he looked up to her face through his bangs. Her heart sank as she sank down into the chair with his hand still on her wrist. Their eyes met and she knew that she had to say something in order to clear the sadness from his eyes.

"I should have waited." She blurted out quickly, "I should have just waited for you to come back. Havoc told me it was the same night as the kiss and if I would have just stayed home and put up with the fact that every moment of every day was a living hell for me because you weren't there and Al was and he looked just like you but he wasn't you." She started crying towards the end of her rant and ended up hiding her face in her hands just so she didn't have to look at him. She felt his hand lightly touch the back of hers, the cool metal feeling brushing over her skin as his automail digits made contact with her all too hot flesh. She slipped her hands down her face only enough to uncover her eyes and her heart skipped a beat as her silver hues met his golden ones.

"You're serious?" he asked as he watched her wipe away her tears. She nodded and placed her fists in her lap as she turned away from him. He leaned back against his pillows as his mouth hung slightly in shock and his metal fingers twitched with the nervous angered energy that was flowing through his veins. Of course she was serious, he knew that she had to be to break down like that in front of him but he didn't want to believe it. If he started to then he wouldn't be able to stop himself from wanting to kill the man who had stolen her away even if it was just one time. He could feel his heart being squeezed by an invisible hand as he lay back in the bed, trying not to look at her for fear of seeing that black haired eyepatch wearing idiot hanging off of her face.

"I know you may not believe me, but it only happened one time." She said softly as she looked down at the cast covering his right leg. She knew that the conversation was going the way that she expected it to, even if it wasn't exactly the way she wanted it to. He sighed and ran his hand over his face, wincing as one of the metal joints in his finger pinched the side of his lip.

"The 'one time', was it more than a kiss?" he asked as if he still had the right to.

"Well, that depends on how you look at it..." she mumbled as she looked at him through her bangs. He raised one eyebrow as a fine red tint began to form around his upper neck and ears.

"Well how do you look at it?" he asked as he clenched his metal fist in the sheets that covered his legs. She winced as she looked down at the area between her knees and his bed as she thought over the question. The truth was embarrassing, but if she made it out to be anything other than what it was he would end up leaving and never speaking to her again.

"I look at it as," she placed her finger against her chin as she thought carefully over her words, "Two friends getting drunk when they probably shouldn't, making a mistake, and one of them running out on the other while screaming sorry." She scratched around her jaw line ending at the spot behind her ear as she spoke causing him to smile at the memory of the other Emily doing the same thing when she was nervous or embarrassed.

"Are you even sure you guys kissed? It could have been just a drunken dream." He suggested as he tilted his head towards her.

"I would have thought that gladly, if not for Havoc calling the house as soon as I stepped through the front door that night, and yeah, he told me it was him at work." She was scratching behind her ear again as she looked towards the windows ahead of her, "He told me you somehow materialized right above his car just in time to destroy it, and won't you know it, that was a new car." He chuckled and she let herself have a small smile as she watch him relax against the pillows.

"So definitely not a dream." He stated softly as he closed her eyes.

"Nope, a mistake no doubt, but not a dream." She sighed as she lowered her hand into her lap and looked down at her knees once again. They sat like that in silence until the sounds of Alphonse and Winry's voices pierced the air around them. Emily barely had time to turn around before the door was open and Alphonse's bright smiling face appeared in the doorway before quickly fading into a look of anger.

"I told you to leave this to the family!" he shouted as he stepped inside and clenched his fists, "Haven't you done enough to my brother already?" she stood and pulled at the bottom of her jacket as she faced down the angry teen.

"I only came to apologize to him for what happened the other day. Now that you are back I will get going. Goodnight." She nodded towards Winry who was glancing at the still bedridden Edward. Her eyes watered causing her to blink them furiously as she looked away from the small group gathered around his open door.

She slid past Alphonse who was still glaring at her with hate filled eyes and made her way out of Edwards sight. As soon as she was gone he fell back against his pillows once again and let out a deep sigh. He looked at his younger brother who had taken her spot beside his bed and frowned as he watched him quickly look behind himself as if to make sure she wasn't intending on coming back. He didn't know why his little brother was acting this way when he had heard such good things about what Emily had done for Alphonse. He pulled himself into an upright sitting position as he watched his brother slowly pull off both of his white gloves (much like the ones he himself wore), his red coat (very much like the one he himself once wore), and finally he watched his younger brother unbutton the top few buttons on his shirt before he looked up to meet Edwards waiting eyes.

"Alphonse, what is with you?" Edward asked as he pulled his eyebrows close together and frowned around the words.

"Emily doesn't deserve to even be near you." Al stated firmly as he looked towards Winry.

"Why would you say that?" he asked before the blonde mechanic could open her lips to speak. Alphonse turned away from her then to look at him in shock. He watched his younger brother's mouth moving up and down as he worked his jaw while working out his answer to the question that Edward posed to him.

"She cheated on you with Roy." Al finally stated as he crossed his arms with a very childlike huff. Edward shook his head and gave a soft snort at his brother's words before looking at the three standing before him in the hospital room.

"I was gone!" he finally explained after he took a minute to hold down his suppressed emotions, "I wasn't even in this world for six years. It's not like I waited exactly either."

"What do you mean Ed?" Winry was the one who asked the question. Edward looked up at her with shock just barely showing in his eyes. He looked down and let out a soft sigh as he thought over how he could break the news to his family.

"Well, uh, I was there for three years alone. Well, alone with Hoenhime. Then near the three and a half year mark I found the guy named Alphonse Heinric, and his sister Emily." He looked down as he continued to speak, "I moved in with them and over time that Emily and I grew close and started dating and well," he looked up at his brother and the words caught in his throat. Al's bright off gold eyes were filled with innocence that Ed just didn't want to shatter no matter what. He took in a deep breath and looked up at Winry as he continued, "Well let's just say I have been a man for a while now."

"Of course you have!" Alphonse exclaimed as he stood up, "Brother, I don't know how it works where you were, but here you're nearly 24. You've been a man for close to six years."

"Okay, Al, I think it's time we left for the day, Ed looks worn out." Winry stated as she leaned down to rest her hands on Alphonse's shoulders. All too soon Edward was left alone in the room to watch the light shift around him as the sun moved through the sky. By the time the darkness had settled in the room around him, he had made a decision on the next time he saw Emily and what he would say to her when that happened.

(End of Chapter 12: this chapter took a long time to write because at first I wanted Edward to tell Emily about his "deflowering" I wrote the last 1000 words about five different ways before settling on this one. I hope you my dear readers aren't too downtrodden from this. With Love everyone. I may post the other four different ways it went down in a later Omake if anyone wants me to.)


	13. Chapter 13

(Forethought: I would like to begin by apologizing for my extremely long absence from this particular story. If you follow my profile you will see that a few other titles have been holding my attention but I feel as if I have been absent too long from this particular story. From here on out all my works will be written on my phone which gives me an advantage of writing my chapters as the inspiration strikes instead of waiting until I am near paper/ my laptop. The chapters may end up being a bit shorter as a result but I do hope it will not stop you my loyal readers from sticking with my stories. I love you guys!)

* * *

Chapter 13:

"Edward this isn't some romance novel. Just get on the train please." Winry urged as she leaned partially out of the door. Her stern blue eyes focused on the alchemist before her. Ed had been standing with one hand on the train as he scanned the crowd around them for Emily's face. She had not been back to the hospital in the previous three days and apparently she was ranked high enough in the military that he had to know her ID number to contact her himself, a number which his brother refused to give him and Winry along with Granny claimed to not know. He worried his bottom lip between his teeth as he gripped his crutch tightly in his metal hand.

"She has to at least come say goodbye." He muttered as her furrowed his brow in frustration. His little brother hung out of a nearby window with his arms crossed before his chest to prop himself up and a look of concern and anger etched across his features. Alphonse had just about enough of his big brother at that point. For the last three days he had heard stories of a strange land called Germany where there was another Alphonse just like him but for blue eyes and the absence of a blood relation to his brother. There had been doppelgängers of everyone in Edwards life before he was thrown into that world, all living separate lives than they did in their homeland of Amestris. There had even been another version of Edward once upon a time but his brothers entrance into that world had erradicated that version of himself and replaced it with the one that Al knew and loved.

"Come on now Ed," Alphonse watched as Granny stepped up to the slightly taller blonde and patted his elbow gently, "in time I am sure you will see her again and you three can have a long talk." After speaking the small woman looked pointedly at Alphonse who shrank back into the train to hide from her stare. She had been upset with him since the day that Emily rushed from the hospital room and left them there alone with Edward. Al did not know exactly what he did to upset the small woman but he both feared and respected her so he had been on edge trying to avoid her cold stare while booking this trip back home for his brother. His heart raced as he heard Edward sigh in defeat and the sharp creaking of his new automail scraping against itself as he clambered onto the train. The seat beside him sagged as his brother took his spot beside him and Alphonse looked quickly over his healing limbs to make sure he had not injured himself further.

"Hey come on I'm not made of paper you know!" Edward protested loudly as Al poked at his arm that rested firmly in the sling. The same arm that he had propped on the train only moments before.

"The doctors said not to over do it. If you try to move too quickly too fast you could reframe your bones and they're only halfway healed." Alphonse stuttered around his words as he studied the fading bruise on his brothers scarred and battered bicep. His frown deepened as Ed pulled away from his touch and leaned towards the isle that he sat beside.

"Sheesh, I'm the older brother not you Al. Just leave me alone will you?" He grumbled as he slouched down into a more comfortable sitting position. The trains loud whistle sounded as the engines began their rotations, and then they where off, racing across the lands separating Central City from his childhood home of Resembool. Ed found himself wishing he had the window seat so he could watch the scenery pass them by, it would give his mind a break from the silver eyed girl who had invaded his thoughts since he had come to his senses after the accident.

He soon found his eyelids drooping as the sounds of his brothers light snoring in aides his ears. Edward found himself being lulled into sleep against his will and fought against it to no avail. Before the sky was tinted with the hues of night both brothers lay asleep on the train bench before the Rockbells who both where lost deep in their own distractions paying no mind to the two snoring Elrics.

* * *

Emily watched the last train leaving out of Central Station from the window seat of Roy's office without listening to the talk from those around her. She knew that the last train carried with it Edward and Alphonse and it hurt terribly to think of them being further away from her than every before. Sure Edward and Alphonse where only a half weeks trip from her by train now but she feared that, what with the way things had gone between her and the brothers, they may never have the same relationship again. She bit her bottom lip as her fingers rested against the cold panes of the window and she blinked furiously to hold back the tears that threatened to spill out onto her cheeks.

"Miss Hagraven, have you been listening? This does have to do with your upcoming mission to Liore." She turned quickly to look at Roy who was leaning over his desk with his elbows propped against it and a worn frown creasing his forehead. It had to be hard on him at the present time, what with the elections coming up and him having to help run the country and his own electoral campaign. She sighed and turned to fully face him before looking down at the open folder before her. It was just her luck that her medical expertise was needed on the other side of the country from the brothers hometown, all over a land despite with rogues who wished to take all the desert lands for themselves. A dispute that was quickly looking like the beginnings of a war.

"My apologies General, my mind was somewhere else." Her response brought a few whispers between officers that where stationed around the room. Hawkeye who had been watching her for a long while narrowed her eyes to give her the knowing stare that she had grown so use to over the years. She lowered her eyes to the open file once again to avoid the cold brown stare of the Colonel.

"We were saying that you will be assigned to the Roses care on your trip to Liore, afterwards you will be placed under the watch of Major Armstrong, during which time you will care for the wounded soldiers and alchemists who are serving on the front lines." Roy stated in a worn out tone.

"Understood sir, I won't let you down." She stood and snapped out a smooth salute as he waved his hand to dismiss her. With that done she left the office quickly and shut the door tightly behind herself. As the click of the auto locking mechanism slid into place fully. She sighed and looked down the hallway as if expecting the brothers to come bounding down in in a frenzy to see Roy.

She mumbled softly to herself as she headed towards her empty home to pack her waiting empty bags and board the train that she could only assume would be just as empty as the rest of her life had become in only the past few weeks. She did not look up at her surroundings as she made her all too familiar trek home, she did not even glance around as she unlocked her front door and stepped inside. The light switch went untouched as she shuffled around her dark house towards her bedroom. She wanted so badly to fall into her bed and sleep away the pain that started in her chest and worked its way outward to her limbs.

She sighed as she vanished the daydream from her mind and pulled her suitcase out of her closet with a huff. She tossed it onto her bed and turned back to the closet to pull out the few outfits she had reserved for her missions and toss them haphazardly into the waiting maw of the black leather suitcase that awaited them. She threw her boots on top of the clothes and shut the lid tightly. Her eyes landed on the square shaped glow that emoted from behind her closed curtains. She wondered how the brothers where doing as she sat down on the foot of her bed and watched the glow fade into the darkness of the room.

She boarded the next train out that morning with no sleep and headed out towards the west and the unforgiving desert that she felt she had left all too recently. She wondered if she would run into the brothers father again or maybe finally be able to speak to Rose, who she had failed to speak to before.

* * *

Chapter 13: END

Once again my dear readers I do apologize for neglecting this story and I promise that I will bring those two together SOON so don't fret my dear loyal readers.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14:

The train ride was far too long for Emily but she did like the added pleasure of not walking across the hot sand of the desert in which she traveled. She ended up sharing her compartment with Jericho and his young family causing her to be crowded in by the lovable but very energetic Penelope. She loved the young girl much like she imagined she would love her own niece, however at five years old she was getting into the stage where she would talk to hear her own voice. Her parents simply spoke over the young girl as they discussed travel plans back home leaving poor Emily to suffer through a five year olds description of a butterfly that she saw once in passing.

"It's wings were pointed but not really and it had a realllly big blue eye in its wings." She smiled as Penelope finished her description and nodded politely before turning to glance out of the window once again. The sun was just beginning to peak over the horizon casting a shimmering glow over the golden desert sands.

"Emily you really don't sleep well on trains do you?" Jericho asked as he leaned forward to pull his yawning daughter into his lap. She shrugged as she watched him do this out of the corner of her eye. She could see both he and his wife cuddle their daughter between them and it brought a sharp pain that she did not recognize shooting through her heart. She clenched her hand over her chest and took in a sharp breath of air to calm herself.

"I never did well on trains but at least they don't make me sick to my stomachs anymore." She answered out loud while thinking of how easily she slept whenever the Elric brothers where her travel companions. A small smile crossed her lips as she thought of the night she brought Al back to Central. They had both slept so soundly that the conductor himself had to shake them awake when they reached the station. Her silver hues focused on the shimmering sands as she thought of this. In the distance she could almost make out the faint figures of a short blonde riding a suit of armor. She smiled at the familiar ghosts and turned to look down at the open journal in her lap. Even though they were both safe and back in their hometown she still found comfort in imagining them how they use to be, though she would never utter a word of her daydreams to anyone for fear of being placed in the closest sanitarium.

"Emmy can I sleep on your lap?" Her silver eyes moved to meet the wide brown orbs of young Penelope's own irises. She looked up at her parents who simply shrugged to her before giving a gentle sigh.

"Sure Penny but I don't think it will be too comfortable." She stated with a sweet smile. The young blonde bounded over to her happily and laid her head down in her lap. Emily patted her hair gently before moving her hand to massage the girls shoulder just as softly.

Jessie watched this with a satisfied smile upon her lips, for years now she had no fear of losing her husband to Emily and had settled into a seemingly endless calm around the woman, especially regarding how she felt with her young daughter. She could still remember the first time Emily had met Penelope, she knew even then that they would become closely tied like family without the blood...

 _The hospital room was filled with flowers and gifts of candies and stuffed animals to celebrate the birth of the newest Rose. Tiny Penelope May Rose lay in a small bassinet off to the side of Jessie's hospital bed, snoozing quietly with a half clenched fist resting by her head. Jessie for her part was resting in a half sitting position with pillows stacked behind her back to keep her propped up. She did not know how long Jericho would be held up at the office, he had been promoted only a month before and now worked closely with his new superior Riza Hawkeye. She. Had only just finished speaking with her father on the phone and was enjoying a nice quiet moment with her day old child when Hagraven came through the door with a frantic look in her eye. She gave the room a quick once over with before her eyes rested on Jessie's._

 _"H-Havoc?" She was clearly out of breath as she asked the question to which Jessie only shook her head in reply, "damn." She muttered as she cast her eyes away from Jessie's only for them to settle on the face of the new baby, clearly shown from the doorway where Emily stood, "Is that-" she began._

 _"Her name is Penelope." Jessie cut her question off curtly before shaking her head softly and giving her a gentle smile, "Jericho was here to see her be born yesterday but he is far too busy to stay long during this time."_

 _"Oh," Emily moved as if to leave the room as she spoke," I think it would be best to just-"_

 _"Wait!" She could see the pain in the other girls eyes as she stepped back and called out to her to stop her from leaving. She knew that Emily had been through more than she ever would in just the last few months. She had lost the brothers she adored so much and had watched as the superior she idolized had suffered through helping out the newest General without being able to help. She could tell that Emily needed something in her life at that moment that would cast a ray of hope into the darkness of despair that surrounded her. In that moment Jessie Rose cast aside all the remaining hatred for the girl and motioned to the sleeping child near her._

 _"Do you, want to hold her?" She urged her on with her eyes as she asked the simple question and saw the confusion dance across her face._

 _"But I, and Havoc is-" Emily began frantically._

 _"Havoc will be fine, he just broke his hand. Not like he could use the break from smoking anyway." Jessie sighed._

 _"But I-" Emily's eyes where wide as she spoke but Jessie wouldn't give her the satisfaction of finishing her thought._

 _"Damn it Emily Hagraven you get on here right now and hold your niece! Do you hear me?!" Emily physically jumped as Jessie shouted the words at her. She nodded quickly and moved slowly into the room as if she were approaching a wounded animal rather than a baby._

 _"Niece?" She asked softly as she approached the edge of the bassinet._

 _"But of course." Jessie chuckled lightly, "Jericho has already taken you in as a sister so why wouldn't she qualify as your niece?" She watched as Emily thought over her words before carefully reaching downward towards the sleeping Penelope._

 _"Mind her head." She warned as she watched her tuck her shaking hands under the child and lift it up from its resting place. She saw Emily's face slowly slip into a cautious smile as she brought the young baby close to her face for a better look. Her sharp silver eyes had softened as she adjusted the tiny girl in her hands and allowed her smile to broaden._

 _"She's so small, and warm." Emily stated softly._

 _"Babies usually are." Jessie allowed her own smile to broaden as she spoke._

 _"She's beautiful." Emily stated._

 _"Babies usually are." Jessie chuckled around a proud smile._

 _"No." Emily said softly, "Nothing is more beautiful in this world than my little niece."_

The train pulled to a sudden stop which successfully brought all three adults back to reality. Emily moved quickly, looking out the window before moving towards the door of their private compartment and cracking it open ever so slightly. She touched the gun holstered to her hip lightly before turning back to her traveling companions. There was a stern look in her eyes as she pointed to Penelope and then the area below their seats while mouthing the words "hide her" to the two of them. As they moved to follow her orders she slipped into the narrow hall and pulled the gun silently from its holster. She took in a calming breath before slowly making her way towards the front of the train where she had seen the flash of light when looking into the hall. From the distance she could not tell if it was gun fire or alchemy, however either way she felt much safer with the weight of the gun in her hands. The rogues could have easily stopped the train in order to cut off any help sent to Liore, she was warned about such an incident and prepared herself for anything. They still did not know who the rogues followed or what they could do. Their reasoning however was made clear during the rescue of the first batch of kidnap victims. She knew that she needed to follow her orders to the letter if she had any hopes of succeeding in her mission. However the train being held up was not something she had factored into her plans.

"Please be a hothead showing off. " she muttered as she opened the door leading out of their train car. The night air swirled in the blank space between the two cars as she clutched onto the doorframe to keep herself from falling out of it. She gritted her teeth together against the wind as she carefully took the first step onto the shaky metal clasps keeping the two cars together. There was a moment when she had to let go of the first doorframe to reach the second when she thought she might fall off completely, the train had started just as suddenly as it had stopped causing the clasps she had been perched upon to shudder and shake under her feet and her to fling herself forward in order to grasp hold of the door before her instead of falling possibly to her death. She shoved the door open and fell forward before catching herself on a handle of a private compartment nearby. This was the car that she had seen the flash inside, she was sure of it. Now she needed to find out which of the compartment it had emitted from. She moved slowly down the hall with her gun raised to rest in the air near her right eye and her left hand moving the doors open as she approached them. Each compartment was empty which made her heart sink further towards her stomach as she moved further to the end of the car.

"Where is everyone?" She muttered to herself as the final compartment came up as empty as well. She looked towards the door leading to the engine of the train. She opened the door carefully and pointed the barrel of the handgun out before any part of herself. Moving carefully she made her way across the last set of clasps that combined the train cars to the engine. The door to the boiler room was just before her, within arms reach, and she was so close to touching it when a reflection in the window had her turning back to the train cars behind her. A bright flash that emitted from the second car on the right side caused her heart to stop cold.

"Penny." She breathed as she turned on her heel and rushed back the way she had came. She did not know how she made it back to her train car, there certainly was no time to be safe about it as she rushed towards the only scrap of a family she had left. She bounded down the hall of her car towards her compartment just in time to hear Jessie screaming for her daughter.

"No!" She screamed as she rushed towards the noise, only to find a gaping hole in the wall of her compartment and the tai lights of three vehicular leaving towards the horizon.

"No." The word came out as a whisper as she fell to her knees on the hardwood of the train car floor. Sounds of whimpering from her left caused her to whip her head to the side and level her eyes at the area below her seat. The whimpering continued as she moved to lay flat on her belly and squinted her eyes at the dark spot that the sound was coming from.

"Penny?" She asked as gently as she could.

"E-Emmy?" She gave a small sigh of relief as Penelope crawled from her hiding place to clutch tightly onto Emily, who in turn wrapped her in a comforting embrace.

"Where is Edward when you need him?" She asked herself as she patted the little girls head reassuringly.

* * *

Edward sneezed as he stepped off of the train and wiped his nose with his gloved automail hand. The familiar sights of the small Resembool train station brought wave upon wave of memories to the front of his mind. He smiled as he looked around at the wide fields surrounding the village. He could almost see himself at ten chasing his young brother up the wide dirt road to their house where their loving mother waited.

He shook his head and coughed loudly before hobbling behind the group he had arrived with. It was odd to see his brother turn and smile at him as they made their way to the waiting truck where the Rockbells helped him onto the back and his brother joined him to sit near the tailgate. The ride to the Rockbells was a bumpy one that caused him to wince and hiss at the pain it caused his still healing wounds. His brother attempted to help him along the way but all his attempts just made Edward more uncomfortable.

"Will you just leave me alone Al?" He shouted as he pushed his brother away from him for the last time. Alphonse's face contorted with the pain that his brothers rejection brought to his heart.

"Sorry." He watched as Alphonse looked down at his feet as they pulled to a stop before Winrys childhood home.

"Okay boys lets get Ed up to the room so we can do some final readjustments on his automail and then we can start work on some of those back orders." Edward turned to see Winry hop down from the cab of the truck and start her orders to her newly hired helpers from Rush Valley. He was lifted a little too roughly off of the back of the truck and carried inside while he thrashed and fought against the tall men who held him by the shoulders and calfs.

"Hey! Winry I am very sure that I can clearly walk on my own TWO FUCKING FEET!" He shouted at the blonde mechanic who was not really listening to his outbursts.

"Just give him some time Al, he will heal up and be back to himself then you two can go on adventures like you always dreamed of." She stated as she patted Alphonse lightly on the shoulder and followed the screaming mass of flesh and metal into the house/workshop.

"You sure?" Al asked as he frowned in concern at his brothers seemingly pitiful fighting.

"Absolutely." She smiled as she shut the door behind them, then winced as a loud crashing sound echoed from upstairs.

* * *

Later that night Edward lay wide awake in his bed listening to his brothers soft snoring, a strange new sound for him since he was use to his younger brother never sleeping. He wasn't still awake due to the sounds around him however, it was a nagging feeling in the back of his mind that he shouldn't be there in that bed at that moment. He sat up in the bed and pulled his steel knee up as he looked out of the window. His flesh hand traced the edges of his steel joint as he glanced out at the night sky and narrowed his eyes at the strange urge he was experiencing. After nearly an hour of thinking over it in silence he had his mind made up.

"I need to get out of here." He grumbled as he slipped out of his bed and moved as quietly as possible to the door leading out into the hallway. He turned to see the light on in Winrys workshop and sucked in a deep breath. He sook his head to clear his thoughts and made his way down the opposite way than where the light was emitting from. His path out of the Rockbells home was surprisingly easy, causing his strange odd feeling to intensify in his chest. He found each step he took was a bit easier than the last as he rushed towards the train station. After a quick argument and threats made with a certain silver pocket watch that no longer really held sway with anyone, he made his way onto the last train to Central City and settled into his seat with a tired sigh.

"Sorry Al," he closed his eyes as he leaned his head back to face the ceiling of the train car. He could feel himself slipping into sleep as the sound of the trains whistle signaled that it was beginning its journey from his childhood home to the place he came to feel at home at.

* * *

(Chapter 14: END. Thank you to everyone that stuck around for this. I will try to put the chapters out faster and I am planning on posting more chapters than I had originally planned in order to make up for the time I missed with you guys. As always I love you guys!)


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

 **OVA 1: Beauty and the Beast;**

Once upon a time in a far away land rested a city called Central. In the middle of this city rested a command building and in the very top of this building lived the beast. Long black hair adorned it's head and sharp silver eyes cut into all they saw. It was kept away from the eyes of the world and guarded by caretakers which had been cursed to resemble household items, Roy the lamp was always laid back and did not pay much attention to details such as due dates or protocols, where as Riza the clock was always on time and fully ready to follow any order the beast gave her. It was her pride and joy to follow her orders to the letter unlike Roy who was supposedly her superior.

The beast was very shy, contrary to what the citizens of the city believed she never actually left her room, preferring the solitude to the terror or pity in the eyes of the residents below her. She knew that her life as a beast would be forever more if she couldn't find true love within a year, her 21st birthday was the deadline for her to break the curse and her 20th birthday was already coming to a close. She had spent the day just as she would any other. Passing the time by practicing her needlework or just staring down at the citizens far below her window. Never once did she think that the storm clouds making their way slowly over the horizon would bring with it the key to her freedom.

She had went to sleep early that night, depression causing her to only want to curl up in the darkness and close her eyes against the world. The storm that had eventually settled over her home as she slipped off to sleep brought with it deep rumbling thunder and bright blinding lightning that caused the beast to hide its face in its pillows in order to feel safe. She almost isn't hear Rizas sharp voice calling out to her to hide over the storms rage outside her window.

"What is it Riza?" She asked as she pulled the blankets closer to her chest along with her knees.

"Intruder in the building Missus! Intruder! Hide, I will deal with this." Riza patted the beast on its head as she pushed it into the closet and whispered for it to stay put. The clock raced as fast as her wooden legs would allow her to go, knocking over Roy the lamp and dragging him behind her by his wire as she did so. Roy grunted as he shifted about and turned to see where they where going in such a rush.

"Hey Riza I know that you love to get everything done but, ouch!" He rubbed his bulb as it hit hard on a step, "do we need to go so fast?" He asked around a hiss of pain.

"Intruder in the building!" Riza whispered after whipping his cord to slide him across the room only to rest behind the long lounge couch before pulling her along with him by the same means. She glanced around the leg of the lounge couch and squinted her eyes at the dark figure who had caused the door to open with a resounding bang that had awoken Riza in the first place. The figure was tall and shiny like metal with a long strip of ribbon hanging from its huge head that shone white in the lightning flash that illuminated the door behind the being. Riza was terrified at the thought of another beast in her life but she did not have time to think over a strategy to get rid of it before her masters shy voice rang out through the front room.

"Are you lost?" The figure jumped and turned towards the beast who was hiding behind thick decorative curtains with only her bright silver eyes visible.

"Well.." Said the first voice loudly, it seemed like whoever owned the first voice was trapped in some sort of hollow hallway how it echoed with a childlike shyness behind it.

"We were caught by the rain and had to find a place to stay quickly. If you allow her to stay the night we will leave in the morning without a word." The second voice seemed older and more sure of itself as it cut off the first sharply before it could finish its thought.

"It is raining very hard." The beast stated from its hiding spot.

"Master we can't allow this thing to stay here!" Riza exclaimed without leaving her own hiding spot. The figure almost seemed to grow another head as it looked around in confusion. However what the clock thought must have been one solid being ended up being two, the large metal thing and something resembling a shorter human than she had seen before.

"J-just for the night. Then you have to go!" The Beast attempted to sound commanding, yet it's voice came out meek and terrified.

"Thank you." The younger hollow voice echoed towards them from the large metal beast. Riza, full of concern as she was, urged her master towards the upper levels of the building once again. She was only concerned about getting the beast to safety, away from those strangers who may wish to harm her as soon as their eyes rested upon her face.

* * *

IN ANOTHER PART OF THE BUILDING

Tucked away in the darkness of the basement say the beasts captures. Seven of them, each more menacing than the last sat in a circle facing one another with a single oil lamp burning between them. The female of the group, the first and the Most human of them, stood and waved her hand towards her brothers.

"The beauty has entered the lair of the beast. We must do something quickly or our long thought out plans will be met with a tragic end." She stated in a loud clear voice.

"Eat the beauty." The one to her left muttered around the large bulbous finger on which he suckled.

"Tear him to shreds and hang him from the buildings front to ward away others." The one to her right growled as its bright anger fueled eyes glanced around the others.

"Why don't we test him? See if he too can be turned. What good is one beast if we can have two?" The final voice was smooth and even, even if the face of its owner was covered in a greedy smirk.

* * *

Emily awoke with a start and grabbed at the sheets that covered her legs. Beside her Penelope slept comfortably while clutching at a small teddy bear she had been given. With a small sigh Emily turned to view their savior, Hoenhime sat with his back to them, reading over a book that was twice as thick as her own journal with the help of the oil lamp beside him. She shivered against the cold night air of the desert and pulled the blanket up further on Penelope's shoulders before slipping her own feet from the small cot and into her boots once again.

"You're awake then? That gas those rogues shot at you seemed to only be a concoction to knock you out then." His sudden speech caused her to jump and grasp at her chest.

"How did we get here?" She asked as she rubbed her temple where a sharp pain had begun.

"Armstrong and I carried you two here. You were quite close to Liore when the train was ambushed." He answered matter of factly.

"What about the others?" She asked with fear growing in her belly.

"Others?"

"Penelope's parents." Her headache had grown along with her fear, causing her to feel sick and dizzy. She sat quickly on the edge of the cot and held her head in her hands.

"If they aren't in the town then I fear they were taken along with anyone else on the train." He stated, his voice a bit firmer than it was before. She frowned at his harsh words and turned to look down at the young girl sleeping soundly behind her. She could only imagine how the young girl would react if she was told that her parents were missing, the thought caused her frown to deepen.

"I have to find them." She stated as she grabbed ahold of her military jacket and pulled her right arm through the awaiting sleeve.

"How do you plan on doing that?" He asked without turning to look at her.

"Any way I can." She stated as she slid her left arm through and turned towards the door once again. The strange dream that had awoken her pushed far to the back of her mind.

* * *

(Chapter 15: End. Sorry for no real Edward this chapter but I am resetting the love story up with the OVA/ dream sequence. It may seem out of place but it will become clear why I wrote it in the next few chapters.)


End file.
